POTKM Volume 7: The Equestria Caper
by AndrewK9000
Summary: Our heroes set out to recover the missing powers of The Princesses of Heart. Their first stop: Equestria, where they will uncover a dark conspiracy to bring about the end of the world. Yet who is the true mastermind of the dark cabal behind the insidious plot? And what, pray tell, is the secret of The Machine?
1. Prolog: Beginnings of Light and Dark

_Greetings fellow readers and writers! After a rejuvenating break, I'm back at work on my Path of the Keyblade Master series. We'll be picking up where we left off after the events of Volume 6 and the Special Volume. This time finds Sora and the gang journeying to Equestria for a shared adventure with Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Mane 6. Also in this volume will be the special characters I'm borrowing from D.J. Scales, whom I wish to thank for the use of his OC's. Also in this volume are elements of Ranma ½ and the works of Brian Lumley. As for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, this tale takes place during season 4. None of the elements and characters are mine except for those I created myself, while another special thanks goes out to D.J. Scales. As for what's not mine, I'm only trying to tell a story so please don't sue me. As for the story itself, there will no doubt be readers and writers whom won't enjoy it, while some will hate it for the sake of hating. My advice, if you don't like it, don't read it and remember that** THIS IS FANFICTION!**_

_With that all said and done, let the tale begin!_

**Prolog: Beginnings of Light and Dark**

**…E-Branch…**

"I think we're in trouble, Rita," said Reina as the gorgeous Asian American twins whom possesses incredible powers, made their way through the corridors of the top secret espionage unit in London.

"Is it that obvious?" Rita asked irately, "let's face it, we screwed up, big time!"

"It wasn't that bad," said Reina, "sure, the target got away, but it's not like we let him go, and he wasn't as dangerous and evil like Zerlina was."

"Yeah, he wasn't a Wamphyri," said Rita, "he's just a twisted, sadistic murderer whom delights in ripping his victims apart after he kills them."

"I know how sick of a monster a necromancer is," said Reina, "we've had to deal with them before. We just messed up this one time, that's all. How mad could the boss be?"

"We're still in hot water with Director Lawrence," said Rita, "he's still pissed that we can turn into dragons and didn't tell him."

"We didn't know we had that power until the final battle with Zerlina," said Reina, "it's just stupid that Lancaster Lawrence is mad at us, after all we've done for E-Branch, for the world, for the multiverse for crying out loud. We rid the Realms of Light of a Wamphyri plague."

"We had help," said Rita.

"I know," said Reina, "and I do agree, L.L. shouldn't be so hard on us. But what's he going to do? Sack us?" she then giggled, "I wouldn't mind sacking him, if you know what I mean?"

"I'd rather sack you any day of the weak," said Rita lustfully.

"Likewise," said Reina seductively. With that the voluptuous twins embraced and kissed passionately.

"Ahem!" said a woman's voice. The twins broke their kiss and embrace to see two familiar people standing further up the hall. Guy Ellington, former MI6 agent and high level field agent and Cassie Nightingale, former fashion student gifted with the psychic power to speak with the dead.

"This is a free country, girls," said Cassie, "but there is such a thing as public modesty."

"Not that we didn't enjoy the show," said Guy, "but there's a time and a place for everything."

"One of these days, Guy," said Rita irately as she balled up her fists, "one of these days I'll do a Jackie Gleason on you!"

"I know, I know," said Guy, "'Bang! Zoom! Straight To The Moon!'"

"I was thinking more like 'Pow! Right in the kisser!'" said Rita, "but you get the gist of it."

"Let's save personal vendettas when we're off the clock," said Cassie in a disapproving manner, "you know I'm a lot more cheerful than this but you two are seriously in hot water this time."

"It wasn't our fault the target got away!" said Reina as the four of them hurried through the corridor, "well, it was, but we really tried to catch him before he vanished."

"Director Lawrence is especially want to know about that," said Guy, "people don't vanish without a reason, not even necromancers."

"For all we know he's dead himself," said Rita, "he was bleeding pretty bad when we last saw him, for all we know he fell into the Thames and drowned, or bled to the death somewhere."

"No," said Cassie, "he's not dead," she closed her eyes in concentration, "The Great Majority, they would know if he died. The countless living minds of the dearly departed, they fear and hate necromancers. Death is a release from physical limitations, from fear and pain, to a place where the mind can become more than it was in life, where friends, families and lost loves are reunited.

"But necromancers, they commit the greatest violation, they break the ultimate taboo by ripping, tearing, cracking, smashing and crushing the dead, raping their earthly remains to extort their secrets."

"We know what a necromancer is," said Rita, "and we kill them on sight if we catch them."

"We were supposed to catch this one," said Guy.

"And he still lives," said Cassie as she opened her eyes, "had he died, his mind would be among The Great Majority, one among countless millions, yet an island unto himself, for the minds of the dead can ignore one of their own, and without question they will ignore a necromancer, leaving the monster to wallow in isolated despair for eternity."

"But our guy still draws breath," said Rita.

"We just need to find him again," said Reina, "We found him once, we'll do it again."

"Assuming the boss keeps you on the case," said Guy. By then they reached the office of Lancaster Lawrence, director of E-Branch. Guy knocked twice and they walked in.

Lancaster Lawrence, in his usual white suit, his right eye covered by a black eye patch, stood up from his desk and glared irately with his remaining brown eye at the twins, "sit down," he said neutrally, indicating two of the four chairs in front of his desk, then bade Guy and Cassie to sit down as well.

The four sat and there was a few tense seconds of silence before Lancaster Lawrence sat down as well, "well?" he asked, "what happened?"

"It wasn't our fault he got away, boss!" exclaimed Reina, "we…"

"I don't want excuses!" snapped Lancaster Lawrence, "I want answers. You were supposed to apprehend a wanted fugitive," he then pulled out a file full of documents and a Scotland Yard wanted poster depicting a mousey man in his late 40's, having balding black hair and watery gray eyes behind coke bottle glasses.

"Cyrus Simpkins," said Lancaster Lawrence as he read the files, "a mid-level data entry clerk for an accounting firm by day, psychic spy for hire by night."

"We know, sir," said Cassie, "Cyrus Simpkins has been linked to the deaths of over a score of politicians, business executives and one army general."

"He kills them, tears the bodies apart to steal their secrets," said Guy, "and then sells those secrets to the highest bidder. He's sold stolen thoughts and memories to rival business groups, rogue governments and terrorist groups, even other necromancers. All in all, this is one sick bastard."

"A sick bastard whom stole one secret too many," said Lancaster Lawrence, "this case was made top priority from on high. The Prime Minister himself ordered that Cyrus Simpkins be captured alive to know who hired him to steal this one bit of information, who else was involved and what they planned to do with it."

"We know who hired Simpkins," said Cassie, "but he turned out to be a front for someone, or something, else. We're still working on who the real mastermind is."

"And we do know what their plan is," said Rita, "and our espers would know if _it _was built and if _it _was online."

"Which brings us to why we're here now," said Lancaster Lawrence, "why is Cyrus Simpkins still free?"

"We…made a mistake, sir," said Reina, "Cyrus Simpkins, he…"

"He lured us into a trap," said Rita, "and a really stupid trap at that."

"Stupid but effective," said Guy, "I'm sorry to admit it but we all overestimated Simpkins."

"Who'd have thought that anyone would use a 16 tone weight?" Cassie asked.

"We didn't," said both Reina and Rita. Rita spoke next, "and it nearly crushed us. If we hadn't cast that double shield spell…"

"…we'd be blood-soaked pancakes," said Reina.

"But I cast a razor-storm spell that caught Simpkins on the arm," said Rita, "he was bleeding like there was no tomorrow when we lost sight of him."

"If he was hemorrhaging so badly," said Lancaster Lawrence, "how did you lose him? Didn't you follow the trail of blood?"

"We did!" said Rita irately, "we followed him down a side alley to a dead end. There was blood everywhere, but no Simpkins."

"Either he got picked up by a stealth helicopter," said Guy, "or he could phase through solid objects."

"Our espers are looking into that right now," said Lancaster Lawrence, "but I wanted to hear your side of the story."

"And?" Reina asked.

"And I'm not pleased that you two were so careless," said Lancaster Lawrence, "but what's done is done. You can redeme yourself by tracking down Simpkins before he hands over the stolen information."

Just then his PDA beeped with an incoming message, which he read, "it seems that said task will be more interesting than I thought. Apparently, Cyrus Simpkins is no longer on this world."

"A dimensional portal, of course!" said Cassie.

"No wonder we lost him so easily," said Rita irately, she then looked at Lancaster Lawrence, "turn us lose, boss, and we'll bring Cyrus Simpkins back, dead or alive!"

"And we'll find the real puppet masters of this conspiracy," said Reina.

"And you will," said Lancaster Lawrence. He then looked at Guy and Cassie, "you two are going as well, as are a suitable number of espers and special ops agents. Oh, and about your girlfriend?"

"Yuki isn't our girlfriend!" said Rita, "she's a friend, a very good, very special friend, but that's it."

"It's bad enough that she had her parents murdered by human traffickers," said Reina, "then had her back broken when she fought off her rapist."

"Well, regardless," said Lancaster Lawrence, "she has gone over my head and appealed to my superiors in Parliament. She is now officially qualified for a field mission."

"She can't do that!" said Cassie, "she's wheelchair bound, unless…"

"Unless she finished her project," said Guy, "after all this time, she's finished."

"Apparently," said Lancaster Lawrence, "and she also has her fair share of secrets, considering that she walked into my office and handed her clearance papers to me directly."

"SHE WALKED!?" exclaimed both twins. With that they shot out of their chairs and ran out of the office.

"Ah, to be young again," said Lancaster Lawrence as he pulled out from his desk a bottle of brandy and three glasses, "I rather not be unpleasant with those two, they are indeed the heart and soul of E-Branch. I hate to lose them."

"Then you're not sacking them after all, sir?" Cassie asked.

"I would never sack them," said Lancaster Lawrence as he poured the brandy and handed two of the glasses to Guy and Cassie, "they're too invaluable to let go, and I'm quite fond of them, almost as if they were my own children. But alas, I fear that the time our dear Reina and Rita will take their leave of E-Branch is drawing near."

"What makes you think that?" Guy asked.

"Call it parental instinct," said Lancaster Lawrence. "For now, all we can do is drink to their good health and wish them good fortune, for whatever their future holds."

"I'll drink to that," said Guy, while Cassie nodded in agreement.

* * *

The twins ran through the corridors of E-Branch, easily dodging startled agents, clerks and security guards and causing an overall ruckus as they made their way towards a private laboratory with a large 'KEEP OUT' sign on the door.

But before either Reina or Rita could knock, the door opened and a seventeen year old Japanese-American girl in a wheelchair appeared at the doorway. "I heard that you two were in trouble," said Yuki Parker.

"To hell with us," said Rita, "is it true? Did you walk into the boss's office?"

"It was just a test run, but yes," said a grinning Yuki, "it worked." she then beckoned the twins into her lab. The paralyzed girl genius wheeled herself past computer banks, piles of books, chalkboards and whiteboards lined with documents and scribbled with schematics and chemical formulae, to a large table were a powered exoskeleton lay upon.

"It's really finished," said an amazed Reina.

"And it works?" Rita asked.

"Yes," said Yuki as she looked at the exosuit with proud eyes, "M.A.N.T.I.S., Mechanically Augmented Neuro Transmitter Interception System."

"You really did it," said an amazed Reina, "the brainchild of Dr. Miles Hawkins, you made it your own."

"Yes," said Yuki, but she then sighed, "but it's not really finished. I can only wear the suit for fifteen minutes at a time."

"Oh please," said Rita, "you couldn't plug it with a better battery? I thought you were smarter than that."

"The power system has a 12 hour lifespan," said an annoyed Yuki, "with a 2 hour backup battery. No, power isn't the problem, It's me," she then faced the twins, "I can't wear it more than fifteen minutes without suffering incredible pain; headaches, muscle aches, as well as increased blood pressure and don't get me started on my electrolyte levels."

"So, it's got a few bugs to work out," said Reina, "that's not important. You walked again for the first time in years. How did it feel?"

"It felt good," said Yuki, "but it wasn't the first time in years. I first used the suit three weeks ago and have several successful tests since. I've even installed the same weapons Dr. Hawkins used on his suit, plus a few of my design."

"You got it working three weeks ago?" Rita asked, "why didn't you tell us?"

"You were kinda busy," said Yuki, "you've been on this last case for almost two months."

"Two months?" Reina asked, "really? I guess time does fly when you're having fun."

"Well, it's going to get better," said Yuki, "did the boss tell you? I'm cleared for field work now."

"He told us," said Rita, "you're coming with us to catch the fugitive necromancer, wherever he is."

"In that case," said Yuki, "consider me your trump card."

"With you there in our deck," said a grinning Reina, "we'll catch this bastard in no time!"

* * *

**…Someplace Dark…**

In an underground chamber far from the sight and knowledge of those whom walked in the light, strutted a creature most foul. The creature resembled an Alicorn, having a black body with a blue mane and tail. Her legs were studded with holes, her horn was bent and gnarled, her teeth like razors, her eyes green like those of a cat and her wings translucent tattered with holes.

This was Chrysalis, the queen of the Changeling race. She meandered through the underground chamber that was filled with her shape shifting followers, her throngs of children restlessly flittering and scampering about the area in anticipation of the unholy event to come.

"My queen," said one of the savage shape shifters, "all is prepared and our allies are waiting."

"You mean _my_ allies," said Chrysalis, "you and the rest of my dear ones are the ones whom shall benefit the most of this alliance, but it is my alliance nonetheless."

"Yes, my queen," said the Changeling as it bowed. Chrysalis then headed towards the middle of the chamber, her hordes of children bowing as she strutted past them.

In the middle of the chamber on a raised stone platform were several humans in green and brown robes, all of them ordinary-looking people, except for the fact that their eyes were multifaceted like insects. Scattered throughout the chamber were dozens of insectoid creatures, each a hybrid of different insect species.

"Ah, my friends from beyond the stars," said Chrysalis as she flapped her tattered wings to fly up to the platform, "how wonderful to see you all again. I take it you had a pleasant journey?"

"It was…uneventful," said one of the robbed humans with insect eyes, "my comrades and I are ready to proceed with the ritual."

"As are my children and I," said Chrysalis. Two Changelings then flew up to the platform. Strapped to their backs was a velvet cushion upon which lay a curved horn blood red in color.

"Then we may begin," said one of the insect-eyed humans. He took reached out and picked up the horn, revealing that his right hand was a black insectoid claw. He then took the horn and placed it in the middle of the platform where a large magic circle had been drawn and inscribed with symbols of dark magic.

"Let us begin!" said another of the robbed humans with insect eyes. Several nearby torches ignited, burning with dark purple flames, while three of the robed humans began beating large drums in an insidious rhythm.

"What we do tonight!" said one of the robed humans, "we do in the name of evil itself, to propagate the darkness, to bring fear, hate, rage and sorrow to those whom cling to the light! We do this in the name of evil itself!"

At that the throngs of Changelings began to chant in a language that couldn't be understood by normal humans, nor would they want to understand. At the same time the insect hybrids began chanting in a clicking manner.

Chrysalis watched as the robed humans with insect eyes performed a ritual, spilling upon the magic circle various potions and powders. All the while the chanting of the shape shifters increased in volume and intensity and slowly but surely, the dark magic circle began glowing with a sinister purple light.

Finally, the robed humans brought out and spilled a vial of blood upon the circle and the chanting abruptly stopped. There was a tense moment of silence as everyone in the chamber waited for something to happen.

But then a vile wind began blowing through the chamber as the red horn rose into the air as the magic circle caught fire, burning with black flames. A sphere of darkness, blacker than black, consumed the red horn, growing to the size of a beach ball, then imploding on itself. Without warning, all the lights in the chamber went out for a few seconds, then returned.

There in the charred remains of the dark magic circle stood a Unicorn pony with a coat, mane and tail black as night. He wore armor across his body and legs with a red furred cloak across his back. Beneath his red horn was an iron circlet with a red jewel in the center, while his eyes were green with red irises that emitted purple energy.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, King Sombra," said the lead robed human as he and his comrades, humanoid and insectoid, bowed, while Queen Chrysalis and her Changelings also bowed. "Our god, Vykkao'shatl'uq, has bestowed you with new life."

"All glory to Vykkao'shatl'uq!" shouted the other robed humans, while the insectoid creatures clicked and hissed with fanatic devotion.

"How long?" King Sombra, former conqueror of the Crystal Empire and enslaver of the Crystal Ponies, asked.

"It has been well over a year since your downfall," said Queen Chrysalis, "the entire world believed you were gone for good."

"But now you have returned," said the leader of the robed humans, "I am Obler'intor, and my comrades, the Raztonians, along with Chrysalis and her Changelings, with the will and guidance of Vykkao'shatl'uq, have orchestrated your triumphant revival."

"I am revived, yes," said Sombra, "yet my powers are not yet restored. I must return to The Crystal Empire and destroy The Chrystal Heart. Only then will I reclaim my rightful mastery over The Crystal Ponies and spread my darkness across all of Equestria!"

"A bold ambition," said Queen Chrysalis, "but not unsurpassable."

"What do you know of my ambition, shape shifter?!" Sombra snapped, "I know of your own plan to rule Equestria. You impersonated that disgustingly beautiful Mi Amore Cadenza, stealing the love energy of those around her, all in a bid to overwhelm Canterlot with your army of shifters and then take over the rest of the world."

"And I would have gotten away with it," said Chrysalis irately, "if it weren't for that miserable meddling mules! That tenacious Twilight Sparkle and her merry band of friends! If they hadn't been involved, Shining Armor would have been mine forever. I would have arranged accidental deaths for both Celestia and Luna, after which, after a suitable period of mourning, I would have ascended the throne of Equestria and rulled with an iron hoof!"

"And yet you failed," said Sombra, "because a certain purple unicorn stuck her horn where it wasn't wanted." he then smiled vilely, revealing teeth as sharp as knives.

"I seem to remember hearing that a certain purple unicorn foiled your plans as well," said Chrysalis, "that Twilight Sparkle and her band of brats, as well as a wet behind the ears dragon no less, recovered The Crystal Heart and restored light and love into the hears of The Crystal Ponies, thereby destroying your body. All that was left was your phallus of a horn," she then laughed cruelly, "trying to compensate for something?"

"How dare you!" snapped Sombra, "I had an entire empire under my hooves before your ancestors were born!"

"Gentle-ponies, please!" said Obler'intor, "now is not the time for childish bickering."

"You both have common enemies," said another of the robbed humans, "you should at least agree to disagree."

"True," said Sombra as he glared at Chrysalis, "we do have a shared hatred for Twilight Sparkle. I intend of slowly ripping her horn off and violating her with it before breaking her legs and leaving her to die in agony."

"I to wish to rip off her horn," said Chrysalis, "and her wings. Oh, I forgot to tell you, she evolved into an Alicorn."

"Has she now?" Sombra asked, "no doubt her powers have evolved as well. And then of course, there's The Elements of Harmony."

"None of us have to fear that factor," said the second robbed human, "The Elements of Harmony have been returned to The Tree of Harmony."

"Is this true?" Sombra asked.

"My comrade, Jachs'ocallf, speaks the truth," said Obler'intor, "but even without The Elements of Harmony, the Mane 6, as they're sometimes known, are still a force to reckon with. But my comrades and I have a plan that will make whatever magic Twilight Sparkle and her friends possess seem like parlor tricks."

"Soon we will be ready to implement our true objective," said Jachs'ocallf.

"How soon?" Sombra asked.

"As soon as the last member of our little cabal arrives," said a tall, thin man wearing a black business suit with silver cufflinks and tie clip, with short black hair, black eyes and a pale, gaunt yet handsome face that failed to hide the vileness residing in his mind and heart, "then the fun begins."

"Ah, my friend Djarlo," said Obler'intor, "how kind of you to grace us with your presence."

"Can the formalities, bug boy," said Djarlo, "it irks my nerves."

"Djarlo," said Sombra, "you're a strange creature."

"Speak for yourself, goat boy," said Djarlo. "I just want to get this little party of ours started for real."

"I shall ignore your insolence, human," said Sombra, "yes, I know what humans are."

"As do I," said Chrysalis, "and be patient with him, Sombra dear, for this man is a complete lunatic."

"Oh, I'm lucid enough," said Djarlo as he smiled insidiously, "I just enjoy evil for the sake of evil."

"As do we all," said Oble'intor, "and soon, our evil will consume and spread beyond Equestria to other worlds in the universe, to other universes and beyond. Nothing will stop this dark alliance, not the Alicorn Princesses, not The Elements of Harmony, nothing will avert our destiny of dark domination!" At that the hordes of Changelings cheered wildly, while Sombra and Chrysalis smiled wickedly, not trusting each other but willing to cooperate, for now. As for Djarlo, what his true motives were? None present could say.


	2. Chapter 1: New Mission Same Troubles

**Kingdom Hearts: Path of the Keyblade Master**

**Volume 7: The Equestria Caper**

**By AndrewK9000**

**Chapter 1: New Mission Same Troubles**

_Dear Merida,_

_Oh my stars and spells, have I a story for you! I'll tell it all in greater detail as soon as I have more time to write, this letter is just to let you know that I'm okay, Sora and Kairi are okay and everyone else is okay. But Radiant Garden is a mess. While we were saving Kairi and fighting a group of demons, mutants and other assorted villains at a bathhouse for spirits, Radiant Garden, Kairi's homeworld, was invaded by an evil space empire and nearly burned to the ground._

_Our friends from across and beyond The Realms of Light had gathered on Radiant Garden to figure out what to do about our shared enemies, and good thing too, otherwise the world and the rest of The Realms wouldn't have stood a chance, these invading aliens were so powerful. Even with Merlin, Lara and a whole slew of powerful friends fighting, they wouldn't have lasted long._

_And who should come along and save Radiant Garden in its darkest hour while us Keyblade Wielders were on vacation? A crew of space pirates. Space pirates, of all people! And not just any crew of space pirates, but the same crew whom defeated these aliens before._

_I promise to tell more later but I'm running late for a big sit down with the others and even then I don't know when I'll have time to write. Just know that I'm fine and so is everyone else, and I look forward with an aching heart to when we meet again._

_With much love and light,_

_Malcolm_

With a flourish of his quill, Malcolm signed his name on the letter, folded it up, sealed it with wax and used a spell to send it to Castle DunBroch in The Highlands where Merida would read it. He then vanished his enchanted writing desk and hurried through the castle halls to the main library.

He found Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, along with Ansem, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Merlin, Yen Sid, Sylvia and Lara Dunbar, Leon, Quistis, Yuffie, Selphie, Sara and Ranma, Nessie and Jacob, Will, Lyra and their respective Daemons, all sitting around a table.

"Nice if you to join us," said Aiden.

"Sorry," said Malcolm as he sat down, "I needed a moment."

"Well, now that you've pulled yourself together," said Aiden, "our friends can finish the story."

"There isn't much more to tell," said Selphie, "with the enemy warships and giant monster damage, the fires and structure instability, we're looking at a total rebuilt of the city all over again."

"I can't leave more than a few days without something terrible happening," said Kairi.

"This wasn't your fault," said Sora, "Zangyack would have invaded even if…"

"…we were here," said Kairi, "yes I know, I don't blame myself," she then glared at King Mickey, "but someone…"

"…had to send us to Hogwarts," said Sora irately.

"You know, that's getting kinda creepy," said Ranma.

"I've heard of two people having deep emotional connections," said Nessie, "but finishing each others sentences, it's just…" she looked at Jacob, "don't you think it's creepy?"

"Oh, and like vampires don't do that?" Jacob asked.

"None that I know," said Nessie.

"It's just strange," said Sarah, "you two go away to learn more about magic and you come back bonded for life, like you were married."

"Yeah, about that," said Selphie, "what's the idea of you two getting married and not even inviting us."

"It wasn't like we could send out invitations," said Sora, "it just…"

"…happened," said Kairi.

"Could we get back on track here?" Tess asked, "is there any idea where the stolen powers went?"

"No idea," said Sylvia.

"If anyone's to blame, it's me," said Lara, "I shouldn't have been messing around with them, but I wanted to help Snow White and the others."

"How are they?" Sora asked, "Cinderella, Aurora and the others?"

"Aside from a lack of energy and easily exhausted," said Merlin, "they're in stable condition."

"While Alice is still asleep," said Yen Sid, "All in all, the Princesses are in no immediate danger."

"And it wasn't your fault, Lara," said Sylvia, "I would have tried to put the powers back in their owners."

"Even if we find them again," said Yuffie, "how will we know which power belongs to which Princess? For all we know, we could end up switching personalities on them."

At that both Sora and Kairi laughed at the thought of Belle acting like Snow White, Cinderella like Alice or Jasmine acting like Aurora.

"How much time do they have?" Malcolm asked, "before…?"

"Before they start to fade away and die?" Sylvia asked, "we don't know. Could be weeks, months, days or hours, we just don't know."

"Well, we've been in tough spots before," said Riku.

"Yeah, but this is a sticky situation on a new level," said Aiden, "the powers of Snow White and the others, they could be anywhere on Radiant Garden, or on any world in The Realms of Light, or in any universe."

"It's like looking for a needle in a stack of needles in a haystack among a whole field of haystacks," said Tess.

"There's got to be some way of finding them," said Sora, "a spell or…"

"…some sort of technological method," said Kairi, "or both."

"I have been pondering the problem ever since it occurred," said Ansem, "I still am, as is Tron and Professor von Drake. But so far we have come up with noting."

"I can't help but feel that this particular crisis could have been averted if someone hadn't sent our friends away to magical cram school," said Selphie as she glared at King Mickey.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?!" King Mickey exclaimed, "I had no idea we'd be invaded while Sora and the others were at Hogwarts."

"Uh, actually," said Malcolm, "the actual invasion happened while we were relaxing at Yubaba's bathhouse, so if The King had called for help, we would have come."

"Fat lot of good we would have been," said Tess, "saving three worlds in a row without a break, while dealing with all the crap Columbina kept throwing at us."

"Shadow Moon was the worst," said Aiden, "that guy was hardcore, and so were those Gorgom freakazoids."

"They were just part of Dai-Shocker," said Riku, "I don't even want to think who or what else they've got."

"Still, it wasn't so bad," said Kairi, "not counting the part where I lost my mind and nearly died a few times," she then looked at Sora with apologetic, loving eyes, "and I don't even want to count the number of times I tried to kill you."

"You weren't your self," said Sora as he lovingly held Kairi's hands in his, "it's over and you're fine. And chasing after you across worlds had its good points. I wouldn't mind teaming up with The Bureau again."

"And I'd like go see Frankie and the other Ghoulfriends," said Kairi.

"Could we focus on the fact that my mistake is going to kill Snow White and the others!?" Lara exclaimed.

"Don't play the martyr game," said Sylvia sternly, "it's not your fault."

"Wish I felt it wasn't," said Lara glumly as she leaned on her forearms on the table.

Just then Violet, alias Shielda, burst into the room, "you guys! We found one of them!"

"One of what?" Tess asked.

"You know what!" said Violet, "one of the missing powers!" with that she ran out of the room. After a few seconds of confusion, Sora and the others scrambled for the door, causing a brief pileup at the doorway but everyone got out into the hallway and made their way to the infirmary.

There they found Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine and Alice, all laying on cots with several doctors and nurses monitoring their vitals.

Off to one side of the room stood Violet, eagerly fidgeting around Teddy and Victoire, with the young witch cradling a sphere of pure light in her hands.

"Is that it?" Riku asked in amazement.

"Yes," said Victoire as she walked towards our heroes and company, showing the sphere of light as if it were a babe in her arms.

"Well, where was it?" Yuffie asked.

"Right under our noses, surprisingly," said Teddy. "Well, it was actually below."

"It was right outside Ansem's Study," said Victoire, "just sitting there."

"But how did you find it?" Riku asked.

"I have eyes," said Violet, "and I know how to use them."

"Okay, so that's one power found," said Sora.

"And five to go," said Kairi, "but who's power does this belong to?"

"One way to find out," said Victoire. She carried the sphere of light over to where the resting Princesses lay. Currently, only Cinderella and Belle were awake.

"Goodness!" said an astonished Aurora as she and Belle saw the sphere of light, "where did you find that?"

"Down below at the base of the castle," said Violet.

"I used a cleaning charm on it before bringing it back up," said Victoire, "not for any dirt and dust, but to cleanse it of a different filth."

"That slime ball, Bosco," said Teddy, "he dared to touch something so pure and so bright, I'm scared he tainted it and the other stolen powers."

"No, it's still safe," said Sara, she then tapped her forehead, "I can tell."

"I sense it's cleanliness too," said Kairi, "no amount of sick insanity could darken this light."

"But, Karlaz wanted to use the powers to become a Princess of Dark," said Yuffie.

"Karlaz was one egg short of a dozen," said Leon.

"More like a doughnut short of a bakers dozen," said Selphie.

"One can short of a six-pack," said Quistis.

"We get it, she was nuts," said Aiden, "now how do we put the stolen power back where it belongs?"

"And how do we know which body it belongs to?" Sora asked.

As if in answer, the sphere of light rose out of Victoire's hands, hovered around the room for a few seconds before settling over Alice and was absorbed into her heart.

"Huh, that was easy," said an astonished Sora.

A few seconds later, Alice opened her eyes and sat up, yawning deeply and stretching her arms, "my goodness," she said as she blinked several times, "did I nod off? What happened with the meeting?"

"It's a long story," said Sarah.

"Let's just say that we had the unexpected twists to end all unexpected twits," said Violet.

"That's a bold statement," said Lyra.

"Well, one Princess is safe," said Tess as Yuffie, Selphie, Leon and Quistis, filled Alice in on what she missed, "but how are we going to find the other missing powers?"

"I doubt we'll get as lucky again," said Riku.

"If one can be found, so can the others," said Sora.

"Well have to start somewhere," said Kairi, "so why not at Disney Castle?"

"Another tour of The Realms of Light," said Aiden, "it's a good start."

"You've only seen Radiant Garden," said Sora to Malcolm, "wait until you see Agrabah, Atlantica and the other worlds. It's gonna blow your mind."

"I'm from The Magical Dimension," said Malcolm, "there's not much that can surprise me."

"Hey, you guys!" exclaimed Selphie, "I think Alice knows how to find the other missing powers!"

"That surprised me," said Malcolm. With that the Keyblade Wielders hurried over to Alice's cot, where the youngest Princess of Heart was drawing something on a piece of paper that Lara had summoned.

"She said she remembered a dream," said Yuffie, "one she had while she was dead to the world."

"Typical," said Violet, "while we were busy fighting off an alien invasion, Alice was having dreams."

"This was no ordinary dream," said Sylvia, "while my prowess in magic isn't what it used to be, I can still sense when magic was used. Alice's dream was put into her mind."

"Inception," said Riku, "like what Young Watari used to bring us together to talk about the keys to The Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis."

"Yeah, that worked out well," said Aiden as he annoyingly crossed his arms.

"What do you remember of your dream, Alice?" Cinderella asked.

"Not much, I'm afraid," said Alice, "I do know that it was curious, even more curious than Wonderland, if possible. Then again, anything is possible, but no everything, it depends on your point of view."

"We know," said Riku.

"We're living proof," said Aiden.

"Well, I only remember a few things clearly," said Alice, "the missing powers, Sora and the others, and just one more thing," she then finished her drawing, showing six distinct marks; three red apples, two pink butterflies, balloons and confetti, a cloud with a rainbow-colored lightning bolt, three diamonds and finally a six-pointed star with smaller white stars around it.

"Those are Cuite Marks," said Sarah, "I'd be a poor protector of Dream Valley if I didn't know. But, they don't belong to any of the Little Ponies I know from Dream Valley, unless…"

"They belong to Twilight Sparkle and her friends from Equestria," said Sora, "I met them while inside Kairi's mind."

"Yeah, how did that work again?" Ranma asked.

"Long story," said both Sora and Kairi.

"So you know the keepers of The Elements of Harmony," said Sara, "that's cool. I only visited Equestria once, to attend a special ceremony in Canterlot."

"Yeah, it was kinda boring," said Ranma, "we met some interesting Ponies, but the ceremony itself, dull as…well, dull."

"Alice, why did you draw these marks?" Belle asked.

"I honestly don't know," said Alice, "I only remember them from my dream."

"So, what do these six Little Ponies have to do with finding the missing powers?" Aiden asked.

"Maybe they know where the missing powers are," said Malcolm hopefully, "or at least where one of them is."

"One of them might be somewhere in Equestria," said Kairi.

"Good luck finding it," said Ranma, "I saw a map of Equestria while we were there."

"You think Dream Valley and it's surrounding environments are big?" Sarah asked, "comparing Dream Valley to Equestria is like comparing Rhode Island to Texas."

"So, it's a huge country," said Sora, "no problem, we'll find the missing power if it's there, and I know that Twilight Sparkle and her friends will help if we ask them."

"In that case," said Kairi, "the next stop is Equestria."

"Hold it," said Aiden, "we can't leave just yet, what if Xehanort and Maleficent…"

"Maleficent's gone," said Yuffie, "or, at least her soul is on the run."

"Oh yeah, you did tell us that," said Aiden.

"I can't believe that Regina got the best of Maleficent," said Riku.

"I can't believe that Tremaine and Gaston are dead," said Aiden.

"What about Penny Dubois?" Tess asked, "what happened to her body?"

"We found her after Karlaz left," said Quistis, "Penny was completely out to lunch. We tried everything to wake her up but no dice."

"It was Regina's curse," said King Mickey, "the same dark magic she used to curse Snow White now affects Penny."

"Then she won't wake up until her true love comes and kisses her," said Kairi.

"But who's her true love?" Tess asked, "it could be any guy at The Castle of Dreams, or any other world in The Realms of Light, or even in a completely different universe. She could be asleep forever."

"You can't think that," said Belle, "if there's one thing we all should know is that love always finds a way."

"I know," said Tess, "but…I just feel like I should be doing something to help."

"We'll keep an eye for any guy looking for his soul mate while we're on our new quest," said Riku.

"So, when do we leave?" Sora asked

"We leave when I feel like it," said Sidney, the holographic artificial intelligence whom was the heart and soul of The Intrepid Heart, as she walked into the library.

"Sidney!" said Sora happily, while Riku and the other Keyblade Wielders got up and ran to their holographic friend.

"Gee, I never realized how much you cared," said Sidney.

"Of course we care," said Tess, "you're our friend."

"Even if you are really a big computer," said Sora, "you've got as much heart as the rest of us."

"Thanks," said a smiling Sidney, "anyway, Cid is overhauling my engine for an extended trip so as soon as he's done, we can go."

"But what about here?" Malcolm asked, "assuming Maleficent's out of the picture and assuming that Xehanort hasn't taken over, then Regina's in charge of the baddies."

"What's left of them," said Yuffie, "only her, Sephiroth and those two maniacs."

"Dio Brando and Insano," said Riku.

"Well, what's stopping them from coming back and attacking while Radiant Garden is still pulling itself together?" Malcolm asked.

"They won't, at least Regina won't," said Leon, "before her group left, Regina told us that she wanted a truce."

"She wants a chance to consolidate her position," said Quistis, "no, she won't be stirring up trouble any time soon."

"As for Xehanort, who can say?" Ansem asked, "all we can do is watch and wait."

"If they cause any trouble while you're looking for the missing powers," said King Mickey, "we'll call you."

"For a change," said Selphie.

"Don't worry about it," said Sora, "if there's trouble, we'll be right back here before you or the enemy knows it."

* * *

The next hour and a half found Sora and the gang getting ready for their newest quest. They spent the time organizing supplies and talking with friends.

At one point, Sora and Kairi were talking with Nessie and Jacob, when Ariel approached them, "Sora," said the transformed mermaid.

"Ariel," said Sora happily.

"We heard you weren't feeling well," said Kairi.

"Lack of saltwater," said Nessie, "it messed up her electrolytes and caused some really bad headaches and mood swings."

"I'm feeling much better," said Ariel, "but I'm worried about Melody. Ever since the invasion ended, she's been acting rather strange."

"Stranger than usual?" Jacob teased.

"This is serious," said Ariel, "Sora, Melody wants to be a Keyblade Wielder."

That took Sora by surprise enough that he was struck speechless, but Kairi answered for him, "that's so cool, but you're right to be worried. Melody shouldn't want to be one of us."

"Oh, she knows what she wants," said Nessie, "but from what I heard, she can't have it."

"The asked The Blue Fairy for a Keyblade but was told no," said Ariel, "that her destiny would lead her on a different path. And that is what worries me."

"You shouldn't worry about me," said Melody as she walked up to our heroes and company, a packed knapsack on her back, "Sora and the others will look after me."

"Why's that?" Sora asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Melody asked, "I'm going with you to recover the missing powers."

"I beg your pardon?!" exclaimed Ariel, "you're not going on any quest! As soon as King Mickey says that we're not needed to help here anymore, we're going straight home!"

"But mom!" said Melody, "The Blue Fairy said that my destiny was out there. I'll never find it if I don't go looking for it."

"I don't care what The Blue Fairy told you," said Ariel, "you're not getting a Keyblade and you're not going with Sora," she looked at Sora and Kairi, "help me out on this, please."

"Your mother's right, Melody," said Kairi, "we're not doubting your courage and heart, but…"

"…you just can't come with us." Sora finished.

"I won't be a burden!" said Melody, "I won't get in the way, promise. I'll help out on any cooking and cleaning and I can even help pilot the ship."

"You don't know how to drive a Gummy Ship," said Nessie.

"That's okay, Sora and the others can teach me," said Melody.

"Do you even know how to fight?" Jacob asked.

"No," said Melody, "but that's okay, Sora and the others will teach me."

"You really thought this out," said Sora.

"More or less," said Melody.

"You're not going," said Ariel.

"But my destiny," said Melody, "I…"

"Your destiny is to be grounded for a months if you keep this up," said Ariel, "I'm not trying to hurt you but I don't want to you to get hurt."

"I won't get hurt," said Melody.

"How can you know that?" Sora asked.

"Melody, this isn't going to be a safe quest," said Kairi.

"Is any quest safe?" Jacob asked.

"Good point," said Kairi, "anyway, Melody, I know you want to find your place in the universe, but sometimes, going to look for your destiny…"

"…leads you further from it," said Sora, "look, Melody, maybe…"

"No," said Ariel sternly. She then looked at her daughter, "I know how badly you want this. Believe me, I know what it's like to want to leave home and be part of something bigger, but I'm afraid you'll do what I did."

"Sell your voice in exchange for a pair of legs?" Sora asked.

"I meant receive more than I asked for," said Ariel, "and also endanger everyone I loved," she then knelt down in front of Melody, "and I'm afraid that if you leave with Sora, you'll never come back. I…I just want you to be safe."

"Mom, I…" said Melody, "I…alright, I'll wait," she then looked at Sora, "but as soon as I get trained up at home, I'm going on my own quest. I may not be destined to be a Keyblade Wielder, but I'm meant for something big."

"So long as you play it safe," said Kairi.

"And don't run away from home," said Sora.

"Like I'll do that again," said Melody.

A short time later found Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess and Malcolm at Cid's workshop, where The Intrepid Heart lay parked in the nearby garage.

"She's all ready for a long voyage," said Cid, "she's fully stocked with supplies and everything ya'll need and I even fixed a problem in the engine."

"What was wrong with it?" Riku asked.

"Nothing serious," said Cid, "just a worn out part that would have caused the whole thing to blow up on ya."

"Uh…thanks," said Sora nervously, while Kairi and the others also looked startled.

"Yer welcome," said Cid, "I also installed a part that'll make hopping dimensions a bit easier, ya'll get my bill later."

"Gee, thanks," said Aiden.

Just as they were ready to depart, Sora and the others saw two familiar faces running towards them.

"Sora!" shouted Rapunzel as she and Eugene hurried towards The Intrepid Heart, "don't leave yet!"

"Like we'd leave without saying goodbye," said Kairi as Rapunzel and Eugene reached the ship.

"What's up?" Tess asked.

"We just wanted to thank you for what you did for us at the bathhouse," said Rapunzel.

"We should be thanking you for what you and Chihiro did," said Sora.

"We know," said Eugene, "but we want to thank you for showing us just how big this universe is."

"There are so many worlds out there to visit," said Rapunzel, "and so many people to meet. We're going to stay here for a bit to help things out, but then we're going on a tour of The Realms of Light."

"Congratulations," said Kairi, "hope you have a good time."

"We hope to," said Eugene, "oh, and if you run into any more demons or mutants, drop us a line."

"You never know when a frying pan could come in handy," said Rapunzel as she hefted her trusty saucepan.

"Thanks," said Sora.

"WAIT!" shouted Ranma as he and Sarah ran towards The Intrepid Heart, "DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT US!"

"We're not," said Riku as Ranma and Sarah reached the ship.

"What, you think we'd leave you just for spite?" Tess asked, "never happen."

"Good," said Sarah as she and Ranma tossed their bags through the hatch of the ship, "because you need us, and we'll probably need Nate, David, Lance and Denise, assuming they're not doing anything else."

"What else could they be doing?" Sora asked.

"Let's see," said Sarah as she counted off on her fingers, "school, social events, family events and so on, just normal teenage stuff. Being the defenders of Dream Valley is a reward unto itself, but we've got lives outside protecting the Little Ponies."

"And I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to start my own dojo," said Ranma, "but that can wait."

"You're more than welcome to start your dojo here on Radiant Garden," said Kairi, "but considering how often the world gets wrecked…"

"Ansem and the others are planning how to keep this from happening again," said Aiden, "they've got those defensive satellites and a fleet of Gummy warships in mind."

"And our friends from Zumakalis are going to help," said Tess, "assuming Nikolai and Katarina don't kill each other."

* * *

A few minutes later found our heroes, Ranma and Sara on the bridge of The Intrepid heart, with Sora in the captain's chair, Kairi at navigation, Riku at the helm, Aidne at engineering, Tess at tactical and Malcolm at the science/sensors station, while Sarah and Ranma sat in extra chairs that Sidney provided for them.

"We're cleared to take off," said Kairi, "everyone wishes us good luck."

"Tell them we'll be back before they know it," said Sora, "let's go!"

Atop the tallest intact tower at the castle, King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Ansem watched as The Intrepid Heart took off and left the atmosphere.

"There they go again," said King Mickey, "off on another adventure."

"We should be with them," said Donald, "it's not right that we're not with Sora and the others."

"But we're needed with The King," said Goofy, "we've got to keep an eye out in case ol' Xehanort comes back."

"And to figure out what Regina's true objective is," said Ansem. "I fear that this truce she asked for is nothing but a ruse to lull us into a false sense of security."

"But what could she be up to?" Queen Minnie asked, "and is Maleficent really gone?"

"All we can do is watch and wait," said King Mickey, "and hope for the best."

"Sometimes, I believe that hope is all that we truly have," said Ansem.

* * *

**…Castle Oblivion…**

"Have we reestablished visualization on Radiant Garden?" Young Xehanort asked as the clone of the dark master sat in the Interocitor room with Regina and the other villains. The resurrected fallen Keyblade Master was adjusting the settings on the viewing device while the other villains waited to resume their covert spying.

"It's your machine," said Dio Brando, "you tell us if it's working."

"There's nothing wrong with the Interocitor, though it could be improved," said Insano, "it's the planet that's jamming us."

"How are we supposed to keep an eye on those fools if we can't see them?" Lady Tremaine asked.

"And how can we make them suffer?" Gaston asked, "my cloned friend and I have needs."

"They come back to life and they're still nagging," said Dio Brando.

"They're basically the same persons," said Sephiroth, "though I wonder if future clones can be made more agreeable?"

"Talk to me later," said Insano, "I'll figure something out," he then grinned madly as he triumphantly in the air with his finger, "WITH SCIENCE!" he then laughed like the lunatic he was.

"We're perfect just the way we are," said Lady Tremaine.

"Perfect is in the eye of the beholder," said Young Xehanort. He then replaced the Intensifier Disk onto the machine and turned it 18° to the left. The screen on the Interocitor blurred as the machine itself hummed loudly and after a few seconds, the screen cleared, revealing King Mickey, Mickey, Queen Minnie, Donald Goofy and Ansem on the tower balcony. Yet the image was flawed with static and kept jumping out of frame.

"I suggest you adjust the tracking," said Dio Brando sarcastically, "or get a repairman."

"It'd be cheaper to buy a new one," said Lady Tremaine.

"There is nothing wrong with the machine," said Young Zehanort, "it's those fools whom are jamming the signal."

"Great," said Insano, "not only can't we see them clearly, we can barely hear them. It's like one of my earlier experiments with LDS, modern art dubstep music, not a pretty combination."

"If you have nothing to say worth while, maniac," said Regina irately, "I suggest you keep your mouth shut! Before I take a leaf out of Ursula's notebook and steal your voice."

"It would make the living conditions here much more enjoyable," said Lady Tremaine.

"Just try me, clone!" snapped Insano, "you and muscles there are alive because of me. If it weren't for my SCIENCE!" he punctuated the word with a raised finger, "you'd be nothing more than discarded scraps of DNA. Push me too far and I'll see to it that these are your last lives, never to be resurrected again!"

Both Gaston and Lady Tremaine were about to shout at Insano, when Sephiroth held up his hand for quiet, "I thought I heard one thing clear from the mouse king, something about Sora."

"Sora?" Young Xehanort asked, "yes, I know that name. My predecessors had had quite the history with that boy. I look forward to meeting him."

"Where is Sora by the way?" Lady Tremaine asked, "is he and the rest of his cabal of cohorts still at that wretched resort for spirits?"

"Let's find out," said Young Xehanort as he turned the Intensifier Disk another 18° to the left. The screen blurred and the machine hummed and after a few seconds, the image showed Sora and the gang on the bridge of The Intrepid Heart.

"There they are," said Regina as she smiled insidiously, "now, where are they in such a hurry off to?"

The Interocitor screen blurred again, resolving into an image of The Intrepid Heart in orbit around Radiant Garden.

"They're leaving the planet?" Dio Brando asked, "I thought they just got there."

"If they're leaving now," said Lady Tremaine, "then now is the time to strike!"

"Now!" said Gaston, "now, while the brats are gone and the idiots on the planet are still weak from fighting Zangyack!"

"No!" Regina insisted, "we have an unofficial truce with The Realms of Light. Let that royal rodent, King Mickey, and the rest of his light loving friends, let them think what they will, but until it suits me otherwise, we will honor that truce."

"And when will it suit you to break the truce?" Sephiroth asked.

"When we have a plan to crush those whom stand against us," said Young Xehanort, "once and for all! I already have a few ideas in mind."

"I'd love to hear them," said Regina as she smiled admiringly at the resurrected dark master.

"Whenever you're ready," said Young Xehanort as he smiled back at Regina. At which, Sephiroth looked as if he was ready to cut Young Xehanort into pieces, glue the pieces back together, set the body on fire, dump the remains into an industrial strength paper shredder and then throw whatever was left into a vat of acid. Instead, he placed his hand on Masamune, gripping the oversized katana below the hilt guard so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Well, what are we supposed to do until then?" Gaston asked irately.

"We watch and wait," said Regina, "I want to know what Sora and his friends are up to and I intend to find out."

* * *

**…The Intrepid Heart…**

"We're leaving Radiant Garden orbit and we'll be outside the planet's gravity well in a minute or so," said Kairi.

"That device Cid installed," said Aiden, "what'd he call it? A Dimensional Shifter? Where'd he get it?"

"I think he salvaged it from one of the downed Zangyack warships," said Riku.

"So, he's messing around with alien technology," said Malcolm, "and he plugged it into our ship. Is Cid nuts or something?"

"No, he isn't," said Sidney as she appeared in the bridge, "and I'll thank you if you refrain from insulting the man who built my body. Tron and I went over the specs of the Emergency Dimensional Shifter and not only is it compatible, it's perfectly safe, or so said Professor von Drake."

"Now he's one banana short of a fruit basket," said Tess.

"Well, if Sidney and Tron say the part is safe," said Sora, "then I believe them, so how does it work?"

"Just tell me where you want to go," said Sidney, "I'll then tell the secondary computers running the hyper drive and Dimensional Shifter to take us there, and away we go."

"Then let's go to Equestria," said Sora, he then looked at Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Malcolm, Sarah and Ranma, whom all nodded in agreement.

"Equestria, here we come!" said Sidney. A few seconds later our heroes and allies heard a loud humming coming from the engines and with a flash, The Intrepid Heart vanished from The Realms of Light.

**The End of Chapter 1.**

_Next chapter finds two groups of heroes arriving at Equestria, while three young hears seeking their destinies run into a dark, sticky situation. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	3. Chapter 2: Harmonic Reunion

_Last time found Sora and the gang catching up on what they missed while they were away. After deciding to recover the missing powers of Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine and Alice, our heroes and allies were surprised and relieved to find that one of the powers never left Radiant Garden. After restoring Alice's power, the youngest Princess of Heart surprised everyone by drawing an image from the dreams she had while unconscious. The image was the six Cuite Marks of Twilight Sparkle and her friends from Equestria. With this clue to go on, our heroes determined that one or more of the missing powers could be found on the world of The Little Ponies._

_After saying their farewells, Sora and the gang, along with Sara and Ranma, boarded the upgraded Intrepid Heart and set a dimensional course for Equestria, unaware that Regina, Young Xehanort and the rest of the dark cabal, were watching them, waiting. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

**Chapter 2: Harmonic Reunion**

"So, this is the world of The Little Ponies," said Sora as he and the others looked at the view screen, which showed a planet that had a large continent and a slightly smaller one to the east.

"That's Dream Valley on the smaller continent," said Sarah as she pointed at one spot on the continent, "that whole big continent, from the desert to the south up to the northern ice lands, that's Equestria."

"By the gods!" said Aiden as he looked at the world below with astonishment, "it's bigger than I imagined. How are we going to find the missing power? It's not like finding the keys to The Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis."

"Yeah, those things kinda found us," said Kairi.

"You think the missing powers will find us?" Tess asked, "that things would be easy this one time?"

"You'd think creation owed us a free pass," said Malcolm.

"I don't think we'll be getting any free passes any time soon," said Ranma, "if anything, this adventure is going to be wild, crazy and downright hard."

"That kind of thinking won't do us much good," said Sarah as she put her phone away. "I tried calling Denise and the others but no luck, they're probably back on our Earth."

"Imagine the long distance charges that'll ring up," said Kairi.

"I'll try them later," said Sarah, "but for now it'll be us."

"Just tell me where to beam you down," said Sidney.

"From what I remember from our visit," said Sarah, "Ponyville is approximately thirty miles southwest of Canterlot."

"Canterlot's is situated in that purple mountain range in the middle of the continent," said Ranma as he pointed at the display screen.

"And there's the town of Ponyville," said Riku as the display screen zoomed in.

"Any place in particular you wish to be beamed down to?" Sidney asked, "the more specific, the better."

"I believe Twilight Sparkle lives in the apartment above the Golden Oaks Library," said Sarah, "the library is built right into a large tree in the middle of the town."

The display screen then showed a large tree turned into said library and apartment.

"I'll put you all right down next to it," said Sidney, "while I'll be parked in orbit. You need anything, if there's a problem or just want to talk, just call me up."

"You got it, Sidney," said Sora as he and the others left the bridge for the transporter room.

"Anything else we need to know before we go down there?" Sora asked as they all got onto the transporter pad, while Sidney's holographic image appeared at the transporter controls.

"Just try not to startle the locals," said Sarah, "most Ponies in Equestria have never even heard of humans, let alone seen one."

"Imagine how'd they freak out if they saw Donald and Goofy," said Malcolm.

"Bite your tongue," said Tess.

"Energizing," said Sidney as she automatically activated the transporter controls.

* * *

As the varied Pegasus, Unicorn and Earth Ponies of Ponyville went about their business, three particular fillies walked across the streets towards the Golden Oaks Library. The first was an Earth Pony with a light yellow coat, a crimson mane and tail, orange eyes and a pink bow in her hair. Her name was Apple Bloom.

The second was a Unicorn with a light silver coat, a light pink-and-grayish purple mane and tail and green eyes. Her name was Sweetie Belle. The third was Pegasus with a light orange coat and wings, a magenta mane and tail and purple eyes. Her name was Scootaloo. Together, these three young Ponies were The Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Three days and nights without an idea," said Scootaloo irately, "we've really bottomed out."

"If this keeps up," said Sweetie Belle mournfully, "we'll never find our Cutie Marks."

"That's why we're visiting the library, Crusaders!" said Apple Bloom, speaking in a strong Southern accent, "Twilight runs the biggest library this side of Canterlot. We'll find new ideas to try."

"And if we don't," said Scootaloo, "we'll just go straight to Canterlot and try their libraries."

"And if that doesn't work, what then?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"We'll look elsewhere," said Apple Bloom, "there's a whole world out there. Somewhere, someplace, our special talents are waiting for us. We just need to find them."

"Or we could get lucky and our special talents could fall right in front of us," said Scootaloo.

"That'd be wonderful," said Sweetie Belle, "but what are the odds of that happening?"

Just then there was a flash of bright light in front of the library and there stood Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Malcolm, Sarah and Ranma.

"Crusaders," said Apple Bloom, "I think we just got lucky."

"Down and safe," said Riku, "so far, so good."

"I think you spoke too soon," said Kairi. Sora and the others then looked around. At first they saw the hollowed tree turned into a library, but then they noticed the dozens of brightly colored Ponies, whose normal routines had been interrupted by the sudden arrival of our heroes.

"Umm…hello," said Sora. This caused the varied citizens of scream in terror, running or flying out of the area for their lives.

"Wow, we've been here lest than a minute and already we've alienated the locals," said Ranma sarcastically, "that's got to be a new record."

"I knew beaming down in the middle of town was a bad idea," said Malcolm.

"Why didn't you say so before?" Riku asked.

"I had other things on my mind," said Malcolm.

"This isn't how I expected to start things off here," said Sarah.

"You expected them to roll out the red carpet for us?" Tess asked, "this isn't Dream Valley."

"You did say that they didn't know humans," said Riku.

"I did but I didn't expect them to run away in terror right away," said Sarah.

"We didn't run," said Scootaloo as she, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked towards Sora and the others.

"You're not afraid of us weirdo freakazoids from another world?" Aiden asked.

"What's to be afraid of meetin' new folk?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Nobody would make friends with anyone if they were all afraid of each other," said Sweetie Belle.

"In that case, nice to meet you," said Kairi as she smiled warmly. She and the others introduced themselves to the three Ponies, while Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo did the same.

"Nice to meet ya'll too," said Apple Bloom.

"So, what brings you to Ponyville?" Scootaloo asked.

"We're hoping to talk with Twilight Sparkle," said Sora.

"You know Twilight!?" Sweetie Belle asked, her voice rising to a squeaking pitch with her question.

"She helped us out a while back," said Kairi.

"Do you know my big sister?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Applejack?" Sora asked, "yeah, she was there."

"And my big sister, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"And Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy," said Kairi.

"This is so awesome!" exclaimed Scootaloo as she jumped up, her wings flapping like that of a humming bird's and keeping her hovering for a few seconds before she landed back on the ground.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Twilight Sparkle is, would you?" Aiden asked.

"I'm right here," said Twilight Sparkle as the purple coated alicorn, along with a light purple and green scaled dragon, Spike, walked up to our heroes.

"Hey, Twilight, aren't they…?" Spike asked.

"They're humans, Spike," said Twilight Sparkle, "but I thought the portal to that other world was closed."

"We came here through our own portal in space," said Tess.

"It's actually more complicated than just a portal," said Malcolm, "but it worked the same way."

"Remember us, Twilight?" Kairi asked.

"Oh, it's you! Sora and Kairi!" said Twilight Sparkle happily as she walked up to them, "how are you?"

"We're fine," said Kairi, "thank you again for helping us in my mind."

"You're welcome," said Twilight Sparkle, "I'm sorry I forgot about it, though."

"Forgot?" Sora asked, "it was just a few days ago."

"A few days?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "no, it's been…like…almost three months."

"Three months?" Sora asked, "that can't be…wait, is this…?"

"Another example of Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey," said Kairi.

"A few days ago for us," said Riku, "but weeks for our four-legged friends."

"I don't get it," said Ranma.

"I don't get that much about Quantum Mechanics either," said Sarah. She then looked at Twilight Sparkle, "I don't supposed you forgot about me and Ranma, right?"

"I do remember," said Twilight Sparkle, "you were at that ceremony in Canterlot."

"I hate to interrupt the reunion with bad news," said Aiden, "but we're on a mission."

"Right," said Sora. "Twilight, we need your help. In fact, we need you, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy."

"We're on it," said Twilight Sparkle.

"What about me?" Spike asked, "I may be small, but I'm always there to help my friends."

"I'm sure you can be a great help," said Sarah, "I happen to know another young dragon who helped me and my friends a lot. In fact, his name was Spike too."

"Really?" Spike asked, "I've got a brother somewhere?"

"Well," said Sarah as she walked around Spike, looking at him from different angles, "I wouldn't exactly call you two brothers, more like cousins actually."

"Sound's good to me," said Spike.

* * *

A short time later found our heroes sitting in the library with Twilight Sparkle, Spike and the rest of their friends; Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Also there were Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"Good to see you two lovebirds in the flesh," said Applejack to Sora and Kairi.

"And I must say, Kairi," Rarity remarked, "you look absolutely stunning when you're not terrified for your life."

"Well…thanks, I guess," said Kairi, "but this is just me on a mission."

"You should see her when we're going to a party," said Tess, "Kairi outshines everyone in the room."

"Don't be so down on yourself," said Kairi, "you're just as stunning."

"I'm not that special," said Tess, "you're the Princess of Heart of the group."

"No way you're a princess!" said Rainbow Dash, "you're a thrill seeker, a jet setter and a danger laugher."

"Oh! I'm always up for laughing at danger!" said Pinkie Pie eagerly. "Just let me go get my Party Cannon and more stuff and I'll be read to go!"

"I think I'll sit this one out," said Fluttershy, "Angel has a bit of a cough and…"

"Oh, Gummy can look after Angel," said Pinkie Pie, "I've been teaching him first aid and stuff."

"How can you teach an alligator first aid?" Rarity asked.

"It wasn't easy," said Pinkie Pie.

"Can we at least know what Sora and the others need us for?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"It's a long story," said Riku.

"OH! STORY PARTY!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. Before Sora and the others knew it, a table had been set up with cakes, punch and other snacks, while balloons, streamers and confetti were scattered throughout the room.

"Wow, she's good," said an impressed Aiden.

"Yeah, she's the best," said Rainbow Dash.

"Okay," said Sora, "it's like this…"

And so our heroes informed the Ponies of their quest to recover the missing powers.

"So, you think one of these missing powers is here in Equestria?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"A very dear friend of ours gave us a clue to where we could find one of them," said Kairi, "your Cutie Marks."

"The six of you specifically," said Tess.

"There's still a lot we don't understand," said Riku, "but it's the best lead we have right now."

"How can someone from another world who never heard of our world know what our Cutie Marks look like?" Applejack.

"I'm amazed this friend of Sora's knows what a Cutie Mark is," said Rarity, "but I'll admit that this Alice has impeccable taste in clues."

"Yep, we're awesome!" said Rainbow Dash.

"So, will you help us look for the missing powers?" Sora asked.

"Of course we will," said Twilight Sparkle, while Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and, albeit a bit reluctantly, Fluttershy, nodded in agreement.

"Count us in too!" said Apple Bloom, while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.

"Beg your pardon?" Applejack asked, "I don't think so."

"Of course we're coming with you!" said Scootaloo, "you might need us!"

"It'll be a good learning experience," said Sweetie Belle, "and…"

"And you might discover your Cutie Marks," said Rarity in a slightly annoyed tone, "I know, I know. Look, Sweetie Belle, you're my darling little sister and I love you, but this is one adventure you absolutely must avoid."

"Why?" Sweetie Belle asked, "we're just looking for a missing power that belongs to someone else."

"You need all the eyes you can get," said Apple Bloom, "and us younglings can look in places you adults can't."

"It would make finding the missing power easier of they helped," said Kairi.

"I know," said Twilight Sparkle, "but these missing powers, if they're so precious, then someone else might be looking for them."

"By the gods, you're right!" said Aiden, "why didn't we think of that before?"

"Xehanort would love to get his claws on one of the powers," said Riku, "and heaven help us if Maleficent gets one, or any other villain."

"I thought Maleficent wasn't in any shape to cause trouble," said Sora, "and didn't Regina ask for a truce?"

"And you're willing to trust her?" Malcolm asked, "she's The Evil Queen whom went to extreme lengths to poison Snow White. She'll break the truce the first chance she gets, just as any villain would. I should know, my family's been meddling in the dark arts for generations."

"And yet you and your sister turned out pretty darn okay," said Tess.

"Yeah, Mirta and I are special," said Malcolm modestly.

"There's still the chance of a local villain picking up the missing power," said Riku.

"There's not that many villains here," said Sarah, "none that can't be taken care of."

"You'd be surprised what evil lurks in Equestria," said Spike ominously.

"He's right," said Twilight Sparkle, "there's all sorts of monsters; wild dragons, hydras, and so on."

"Don't forget Discord," said Rarity.

"He's not a monster," said Fluttershy, "he's just…imaginative."

"He unleashed the forces of chaos on Equestria and turned us against our true selves!" said Rainbow Dash, "I know you two are friends, and I know that Princess Celestia said it was okay to let him run lose, but I still don't trust him!" She then looked at Sora and the others, "oh, and there's also Timber Wolves."

"You really don't want to mess with those critters," said Applejack, "some monsters are actually decent folk, but Timber Wolves, they just plain bad to the twig."

"Right, we'll stay away from Timber Wolves," said Sora, "but you guys have The Elements of Harmony. Surely you can handle any big baddies whom try to stop us."

"Uh…" said Twilight Sparkle in a slightly nervous tone, while Rarity and the other Ponies looked equally nervous, "Sora…we don't…exactly have The Elements of Harmony anymore."

"What do you mean you don't have them anymore?" Kairi asked, "did you…?"

"You didn't lose them?" Sarah asked as her hand went up to and protectively grasped her heart-shaped locket around her neck, the same locket that held The Rainbow of Light.

"No, we didn't lose them!" said Rainbow Dash irately, "well, we kinda did."

"We had to give them up," said Fluttershy.

"Long story short, we put them back where they first came from," said Applejack.

"The Tree of Harmony," said Twilight Sparkle. "And in return, we received a box that we couldn't open."

"A box you can't open?" Aiden asked, "what's up with that?"

"Like I said, long story," said Applejack.

"Well, if you can't open it, maybe we can," said Kairi.

"One good thing about being a Keyblade Wielder," said Tess, "there aren't many locks that we can't open," she then summoned her Keyblade.

"Holy Smokes!" exclaimed Apple Bloom as she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at Tess with amazement. "That is so cool!"

"Where can I get one?" Scootaloo asked.

"Out of the question!" said Rarity irately.

"Not to make you guys feel bad," said Rainbow Dash, "but you're sitting this adventure out."

"Oh come on!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

"I'm sorry," said Twilight Sparkle, "but my hoof is down," she then emphasized by stamping her right fore hoof.

"I don't suppose askin' nicely will change your minds?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Nope," said Applejack.

"You'll just have to hear about it from us later," said Rarity.

"Oh! We can put it in our group diary!" said Pinkie Pie eagerly, "this super-duper fantasmagorical adventure should have a whole chapter!"

"Just a chapter?" Rainbow Dash asked, "I'll bet they make a whole story about it."

"They ought to make a movie about it," said Riku.

"They don't really have movies here," said Sarah.

"No movies?" Sora asked, at which Applejack and the other Ponies shook their heads.

"What about TV?" Sora asked, at which the Ponies shook their heads.

"Do you at least have Blitz Ball?" Sora asked, at which the Ponies shook their heads.

"They've their own sports," said Sarah.

"We're getting ready for the Equestria Games," said Rainbow Dash, she then abruptly wrapped her foreleg around Fluttershy's shoulders, "we're in the horseshoe relay."

"Sounds like the Olympics," said Kairi.

"We'll tell you all about tit," said Twilight Sparkle, "but first I need to write to Princess Celestia, she'll want to know you're here." Her horn glowed with magic and a writing desk appeared in front of her, complete with a quill, ink bottle and roll of parchment.

"Can you believe this?" Apple Bloom whispered to her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders as the Mane 6 talked with the Keyblade Wielders.

"They can't tell us we can't help!" said Scootaloo, "sure, we're still foals, but we're as tough as stallions!"

"We just need to prove it," said Sweetie Belle.

"We will prove it!" said Scootaloo, "we'll find that missing power all by ourselves!"

"Come on, Crusaders!" said Apple Bloom, "adventure awaits!" with that she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo left the library without Sora, Twilight Sparkle or any of the others noticing, except for Fluttershy, whom was then distracted by a question from Kairi.

Outside the library, Scootaloo had donned a helmet and gotten on her trusty scooter, while securing a rope around her waist to a little red wagon, which Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle got into.

"Next stop, Sweet Apple Acres!" said Scootaloo. Her wings then flapped rapidly with an accompanying sound of a starting motorcycle engine and with that, she zoomed ahead on her scooter, trailing the wagon and its two occupants with it.

* * *

**…A Few Minutes Later…**

"Alright, where do we start looking?" Aiden asked.

"Equestria is so much bigger than Dream Valley," said Ranma.

"And Dream Valley has more than its fair share of hiding places," said Sarah, "but with Equestria, we could be searching for the missing power for months."

"Oh! It could be over hill and dale, under sea and over stone, willy-nilly and I don't even know what words to use right now!" said Pinkie Pie.

"I don't suppose the term 'putting the cart before the horse' applies to this world," said Tess.

"You mean 'don't count your chickens before they hatch?'" Applejack asked.

"That works," said Tess.

"What we need," said Riku, "is to pick a place to start looking and work out way out from there."

"Well, Ponyville's as perfect a place to start as can be," said Rarity, "and before you ask, it's not in Carousel Boutique. I would know if anything out of the ordinary had suddenly appeared in my shop."

"It's not in Sugarcube Corners," said Pinkie Pie, "I'd know if some weird but pretty thing from another world fell out of the sky." She then looked at her tail, "nope, no twitches there."

"Trust me, Pinkie Pie's tail would know," said Rainbow Dash.

"And that's not all," said Pinkie Pie, "I get all sorts of weird feelings that tell me when something's gonna happen. I call it my Pinkie Sense."

"A psychic Pony," said Aiden, "well, stranger things have happened."

"I say we start by asking everyone in town if they've seen anything out of the ordinary," said Spike.

"Aside from us hairless monkeys from another world?" Malcolm asked, "everyone freaked out when they saw us."

"We did kind of make a bad first impression," said Kairi, at which Sora, Riku and Tess nodded in agreement.

"They didn't give themselves the chance to know you," said Pinkie Pie, "how about I introduce you to everyone. Once they see you guys as the super duper, hullabalooper friends you guys are, they'll be smiling all over again!"

"This may not be the time to roll out the red carpet," said Rarity, "but having everyone's cooperation would make things less difficult."

"Okay, so you guys look on the ground," said Rainbow Dash, "and I'll search the skies. I can cover the air over Ponyville in ten seconds flat," she then looked at Sora, "you don't believe me? Just time me and see."

"Or we could use a spell to locate the missing power," said Twilight Sparkle.

"That could work," said Rainbow Dash in a deflated tone, "but it'd be so boring."

"Not really," said Twilight Sparkle as her horn glowed. Several books from the packed bookshelves adorning the walls glowed and flew towards her. One of them opened and Twilight Sparkle began reading, "this is a very special item we're searching for, so it's natural to assume that a special item requires a special spell. The key is to find the right locating spell."

"And how long is that gonna take?" Sora asked.

"That's…a whole other bucket of oats," said Twilight Sparkle as she flipped a few pages in her book, then set it down and started looking through another.

"Yeah, you have fun looking for the missing power the boring way," said Rainbow Dash, "me, I'm gonna search the skies. Catch you later!" with that she took flight and streaked out through an open window.

"There she goes again," sighed Rarity, "stubborn as always."

"Well, while R.D. is zooming through the clouds," said Applejack, "we can poke around at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Your family farm?" Sarah asked, "that place is huge, and then there's the apple orchards."

"I'd be a good place to start," said Riku.

"Darn tootin' it would," said Applejack, "we can get the rest of the family to help, ain't that right, Apple Bloom? Apple Bloom?"

"Um, she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo left a few minutes ago," said Fluttershy.

"Why didn't you say so?" Rarity asked.

"Oh, I didn't want to bother anyone," said Fluttershy, "and they looked as if they didn't want to be bother either."

"They're probably out looking for the missing power on their own," said Kairi.

"Why am I not surprised?" Applejack asked in a slightly annoyed tone. "I'll betcha they're over at the family farm, making an awful din in trying to find that missing power."

"We'd better get over there and stop them before they make too much of a mess," said Fluttershy, "Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, they can get…a little…overeager, sometimes."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," said Sora.

"Sometimes they get into too sticky of a mess," said Rarity.

"You guys go on ahead," said Twilight Sparkle as she continued to flip through the pages of her books, "I'll keep researching that locater spell."

"Shouldn't some of us stay to help?" Kairi asked.

"I'm alright, I've got Spike to help," said Twilight Sparkle.

"She's got a system, trust me," said Spike as she gave everyone the thumbs up.

"Alright, but if you change your mind," said Malcolm, "or if you find the spell before we get back," he then summoned a blue crystal and tossed it over to Twilight Sparkle, "use that to contact us."

"A crystal with a communication spell on it? Fascinating!" said an amazed Twilight Sparkle as she looked at the crystal.

"I'll say," remarked Spike as he admired the crystal in a desirable manner, "it's so cool, it's delicious!"

"This isn't for eating, Spike!" said a slightly annoyed Twilight Sparkle as she used her magic to levitate the crystal out of Spike's reach.

"I know," said Spike in a disappointed tone, "but a dragon can dream, right?"

"You can dream after you help me find that spell," said Twilight Sparkle. She then looked at Sora, Applejack and the others, "we're fine here, so get going."

"You betcha!" said Applejack. She then looked at Sora and the other humans, "after we're done tanning the hides of my sister and her pals, how's about I treat you to some real down home comfort food? We've got apple pies, apple strudels, apple cakes and even apple ice cream."

"Sounds great," said Ranma, "I could definitely eat right about now."

"You're always ready to eat," said Sarah, "seriously, the amount of food you can consume in one sitting, I'm surprised you haven't choked yourself to death."

"I'm just lucky, I guess," said Ranma, "and I know you'll be there to do the Heimlich maneuver.

"Always," said Sarah as she smiled lovingly. With that she, Ranma, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Malcolm, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, left the library, leaving Twilight Sparkle and Spike to search through the books.

* * *

Several miles outside of Ponyville lay a vast forest, wild and untamed by civilization and home to a plethora of strange, fantastic and somewhat terrifying creatures, hence giving the woods the rightly named Ever Free Forest.

At that moment, things were somewhat calm in the Ever Free Forest, the various animals and monsters enjoying a warm spring day without any reason to be anxious or afraid.

Yet without warning, something happened to upset the calm in the woods. A portal opened up in a clearing and from it emerged Reina, Rita, Cassie, Guy, twenty E-Branch operatives, half espers, half special ops, and sitting in a modified wheelchair and wearing a camouflage jumpsuit, Yuki, as well as duffle bags and containers of equipment and weapons that consisted of crossbows, flechette launchers and flamethrowers.

"Are we sure this is the world Simpkins fled to?" Rita asked as she and everyone else looked around at the seemingly endless expanse of trees surrounding them.

"Roughly 99% sure," said Cassie as she and the other operatives began setting up camp.

"What if we're wrong?" Reina asked, "what if this time, the 1% is right?"

"Then we'll pack up, go home and pick another world," said Yuki as she activated an all terrain feature on her wheelchair, allowing her to traverse the uneven floor of the forest. "Sure, we'll have wasted a lot of time and resources, but…"

"But nothing," said Guy, "we have to find Simpkins before he reaches his contacts. The fate of our world and other worlds hangs in the balance."

"You don't have to remind us," said Rita.

"You really think they've built it?" Reina asked, "or they're building it?"

"We can only hope that we're in time," said Guy, "if Simpkins delivers his stolen information to his contacts, then the real masterminds behind this conspiracy will have everything they need to complete The Machine."

"And if The Machine is finished," said Yuki, "then life as we know it will end."

"Whoa! Major head rush!" exclaimed Cassie as she nearly fell over, only to be caught by Guy.

"What's wrong?" Reina asked as she and her sister rushed over.

"Is the air here poisoned?" one of the operatives asked nervously.

"No, my sensors would have detected any harmful agents in the atmosphere," said Yuki, "biological, chemical, radioactive or otherwise. The air here is cleaner than that on our world."

"I'm fine," said Cassie as Guy helped her sit down, "it's the dearly departed of this world, they overwhelmed me a bit."

"It was more than a bit," said Rita, "you nearly fainted."

"And with good reason," said Cassie as she smiled warmly, "when I contacted The Great Majority of this world, they nearly overwhelmed me with their memories. This world has seen evil, but that darkness is greatly outweighed by light. The people of this world are full of so much love and joy, and only a handful of truly evil villains to balance it out. This world is almost perfect."

The twins were about to ask Cassie to explain, when Rita turned around, an intense look on her face as she glared at the trees, "we're not alone here."

"Something's coming," said Reina as she sensed the same thing as her twin, "something big, mean," she sniffed the air and grimaced, "and it really stinks!"

"I smell it too!" said Guy, "like something died."

"Wamphyri?" Yuki asked. She then shouted at two of the operatives, "unpack my suit! Now!"

"No, there's no Wamphyri on this world," said Cassie, her eyes closed in concentration, "there are vampire-like creatures, but none like the abominations we've faced."

"Then what is that smell?" Guy asked.

"It's not like rotting meat," said Reina as she sniffed the air, "it's more like…"

"Like rotting plants," said Rita.

Just then they all heard a long, mournful wolf howl that seemed to send a chill right down to their bones.

"Oh my god! Werewolves!" exclaimed Yuki.

"Impossible! There's no moon up!" said Cassie.

But then the undergrowth of the trees shook and from it emerged three wolf-like creatures that seemed to be made entirely of twigs, sticks and branches. A vile green light shone from their eyes as they growled menacingly at the E-Branch team.

"Now we know where that smell is coming from," said Reina, "their breath reeks!" she then shouted at the three Timber Wolves, "ever hear of oral hygiene!?"

As if in answer, the three Timber Wolves growled louder and stalked towards Reina.

"Don't you growl at my sister!" exclaimed Rita as she got in front of her twin and the three creatures. Her eyes glowing red and fireballs forming in her hands, she let out a dragon roar that could be heard for miles. The roar startled the three Timber Wolves and caused them to flee back into the trees.

"You'd better run before I make kindling out of you!" said Rita smugly as her eyes returned to normal and she extinguished the fireballs in her hands.

"Nice going, sister," said Reina in an annoyed tone, "thanks for letting anyone within earshot know we're here."

"Hey, I saved your bacon, sister!" said Rita irately, "or would you like to have the yard waste creatures back here to tear you apart?"

"Stop it!" said Guy, "what's done is done. The only thing we can do now is move forward with the mission."

"He's right," said Cassie, "we can't waste time with petty arguments."

"Yeah," said Rita as she nodded. She then looked at her twin, "sorry."

"No big," said Reina, "come on, my incredibly hot sister, we've got a necromancer to find."

"I think I may have a lead on it," said one of the E-Branch operatives, a man in his early 20's with tanned skin, blue eyes and dark brown hair.

"Which one are you?" Reina asked.

"That's Daniel Rameriz," said Cassie.

"Oh yeah," said Rita, "the esper who can sense other espers."

"There's a fair amount of espers on this world," said Daniel Rameriz, "all of them broadcasting positive emotions, but I'm sensing a heavily negative mind about five kilometers to the north."

"Is it Simpkins?" Guy asked.

"No idea," said Daniel, "I have to be closer in order to get clearer reception into the esper's thoughts, but whoever this one is, he, she or it is evil to the core."

"It's a good start," said Cassie, "and if this evil mind isn't our boy, then at least we'll have taken out a local menace and then start our search over from there."

"Sounds like a winner to me," said Rita as she cracked her knuckles.

* * *

**…Sweet Apple Acres…A Few Minutes Ago...**

"We've been all over the house and barn and no sign of the missing power," said Scootaloo as she, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom walked across the front yard of the homestead of the Apple family.

"Are we even sure what we're looking for?" Sweetie Belle asked, "we didn't exactly stay around to hear what the missing powers look like."

"Just keep your eyes out for anything that doesn't look like it belongs here," said Apple Bloom, "something weird but pretty."

"Right, something weird and pretty," said Scootaloo. She then smiled brightly, "hey, if we find the missing power, maybe we'll get our Cutie Marks as well!"

"Finding things," said Sweetie Belle, "things no one else can find, now there's a special talent I can get into."

"We can't give up, Crusaders!" said Apple Bloom eagerly, "that missing power ain't gonna find itself!"

Just then two Ponies approached the three young foals. The first was a tall stallion with a light crimson coat, a light orange mane and tale, green eyes and a half-eaten green apple Cuite Mark. Around his neck was a circular harness and across his back was a brown saddlebag. His name is Big Macintosh, elder brother to Apple Jack and Apple Bloom.

The other was a very old mare with a light mint green coat, a gray tail and mane tied up in a bun and a baked apple pie Cuite Mark. Tied around her neck was a green kerchief. Her name is Granny Smith, matriarch of the Apple family.

"Well now, what are you three younglings up to?" Granny Smith asked in a suspicious tone as she looked at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"We're just trying to help Twilight and the others, Granny," said Apple Bloom, "they're lookin' for something."

"Lookin' for sumthin' are they?" Granny Smith asked, "and just what is this sumthin?'"

"We…don't know exactly," said Scootaloo.

"But it's probably weird and pretty looking," said Sweetie Belle, "we'll know it when we see it."

"Well, if yer' gonna waste time lookin' for sumthin' you don't know what," said Granny Smith, "you can help Big Macintosh and me look for whatever's stirrin' up trouble in the apple orchards."

Big Macintosh then pulled out from his saddlebag a broken-off branch from an apple tree, it's leaves and apples gray and desiccated.

"Good grief!" exclaimed Scootaloo as she, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at the dead branch and apples.

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh as he put the branch back into his saddlebag.

"Is it the vampire fruit bats again, grandma?" Apple Bloom asked, "I thought Twilight, Fluttershy and big sis took care of them."

"It ain't no vampire fruit bats," said Granny Smith grimly, "they're still on their side of the orchards. No, it's sumthin' else, sumthin' that's sucking the life out of the apple trees."

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh.

"And that's why you three younglin's are gonna help us flush out whatever's trying to rop the Apple Family of its livelihood," said Granny Smith to the three foals.

"We are?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Of course we are!" said Apple Bloom, her voice set with righteous determination, "no one sucks the life out of The Apple's apples!"

"Darn tootin!'" said Granny Smith as she fitted a saucepan on her head as a helmet, "I've already left word for yer sister to come help us but for now, it's just us."

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh.

"Apple Bloom," said Granny Smith, "you and yer friends look in the east orchards, while me and Big Macintosh look west and Applejack will look north when she gets here. If we're done our share of lookin' before she gets back, we'll look north."

"Who's lookin' south?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Winona , naturally," said Granny Smith as a large female Border Collie bounded up to the Apple Family matriarch, gave her an affirmative lick and then bounded south.

"Now I don't have to tell you younglins' to be careful," said Granny Smith, "you see, hear or smell anythin' out of the ordinary, you give a holler and we'll come lickety-split."

"Uh, what about your hip, grandma?" Apple Bloom asked.

"This ol' joint of mine?" Granny Smith asked as she gave her right rear leg a kick, "that new medicine Twilight Sparkle told me about a while back did the trick. I'm as spry and limber as when I was a foal, which reminds me, did I ever tell you about the time I outran a whole pack of Timber Wolves?"

"Loads of times," said Scootaloo.

"I did?" Granny Smith asked, "well, I guess I did then. Alright, let's get to field flushing!" with that she and Big Macintosh went west.

"What now?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"We do what Granny Smith told us and look in the east orchards," said Apple Bloom, "whatever's sucking the life out of the trees, we've got to nip it in the bud before Sweet Apple Acres is wiped off of the map!"

"And we can keep an eye out for the missing power while we're at it," said Scootaloo.

"That too," said Apple Bloom. With that the three best friends went into the east orchards.

* * *

After several minutes of walking among the rows of apple trees, they found signs of something most foul. First one tree, then another and another showed signs of its vitality drained; leaves and apples turned gray and desiccated. On some trees only a single branch was affected, while others had multiple branches drained of life.

Apple Bloom walked up to one of the afflicted trees and kicked it with her hind legs. One of the blighted branches broke off and fell to the ground as it were dried kindling.

"No vampire fruit bat did this," said Apple Bloom as she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked closer at the desiccated apples and leaves.

"I don't see anything wrong with the bark," said Scootaloo. She then broke off part of the bark but underneath, the wood was as brittle as glass and crumbled to dust at the slightest touch.

"What kind of horrible, horrible thing could do this?" Sweetie Belle asked.

As if in answer, the three foals then heard a loud dragon roar resonating from deep within the Ever Free Forest.

"You just had to ask," said an annoyed Scootaloo.

"Do you…think that a dragon did this?" Sweetie Belle asked in a slightly nervous tone.

"Maybe it's that big dragon Twilight and the others stopped from covering Ponyville in smoke for years," said Apple Bloom.

"I think Fluttershy made that dragon go away," said Scootaloo.

Just then something black and lightning fast streaked past them.

"What was that?!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"I don't know," said Apple Bloom, "but I'll wage next year's crop of Zap Apples that that thing is trying to kill the trees."

But then a dark, menacing shadow fell across Sweetie Belle. She turned around and look up. What she saw made her eyes widen in fright and she let out an earpiercing

scream of terror.

**The End of Chapter 2.**

_Next chapter finds both sets of our heroes running into each other to save The Cuite Mark Crusaders from a fate worse than death. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	4. Chapter 3: Scream For Your Life

_Last time found Sora and the gang arriving at Ponyville in the kingdom of Equestria. There they met up with Twilight Sparkle and many of her friends. After getting to know the Mane 6 and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, our heroes and allies discussed how best to search for the missing power. Apple Bloom and her friends wanted to help but were denied by their elder Ponies, so they set out on their own, unaware that they were walking headlong into something dark and deadly. At the same time, the E-Branch crew arrived deep within the Ever Free Forest, ready to search out and capture the fugitive necromancer. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

**Chapter 3: Scream For Your Life**

"So, Zapp Apples only appear once a year," said Aiden to Applejack as they, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Tess, Malcolm, Sarah and Ranma, meandered down the road from Ponyville to Sweet Apple Acres, "and only when the wolves start howling?"

"Timber Wolves, actually," said Applejack, "an' if you buck them Zapp Apples too soon, the trees'll zap you."

"I figured as much," said Malcolm, "what I don't understand is how the trees make the ripe apples disappear after a few days. As a practitioner of magic, I'd like the chance to study these Zapp Apple trees."

"I'd be my pleasure to introduce you," said Applejack, "but don't expect much of a conversation. Trees may be good listeners, but they ain't much for talkin' themselves."

"We happen to know a few magic users whom would disagree," said Kairi.

"Trees are just as alive as people are," said Sora, "different, but alive just the same as everything else in nature."

"And if you don't respect nature," said Tess, "nature will kick your ass."

"Just as I'll buck anyone in the rump whom tries to take away my family land," said Applejack, "we Apples have been farmin' this land for three generations and will keep doin' so for generations to come. There's history in this soil. In fact, there wouldn't be a Ponyville if my kinfolk hadn't settled down here."

"It's true," said Pinkie Pie, "and if Applejack's family hadn't moved here, then none of us would have met," she then frowned, "and then none of us would have found The Elements of Harmony, and then Nightmare Moon would have taken over and then all of Equestria would be covered in darkness forever and ever and ever!" She then intentionally slammed her head into the ground.

"Good grief!" said Ranma as he and the others looked at Pinkie Pie with concerned eyes, "you okay?"

"Never better!" said Pinkie Pie as she stood up straight and hopped forward, "feeling Pinkie Keen!"

"What a strange person," said Malcolm.

"Oh, she's not this strange," said Fluttershy, "on the contrary, Pinkie Pie is…well…she's…"

"Unique," said Rarity, "quite possibly the most unique Earth Pony in all of Equestria."

"Yep, there's very little that can get our Pinkie Pie down," said Applejack, "always ready to make someone smile."

"But what she said about The Elements of Harmony," said Sora, "and what Twilight Sparkle said about you guys having to put them back where they first came from."

"And that mysterious box that appeared," said Riku, "what's up with that?"

"That's what we hope to find out," said Fluttershy, "but we really must hurry before Apple Bloom and the others get in over their heads again."

"Oh, don't remind me," said Rarity in an overly dramatic manner, "just last week, I caught them practicing hoof juggling."

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Kairi.

"It is when they're jugglin' each other," said Applejack. "As soon as we get Apple Bloom and the others sorted out, we'll get to work on finding that missin' power," she then looked at Ranma, "after we have a little snack of course. Just wait till you try our famous Zapp Apple Jam, it's the best."

Just then Rainbow Dash flew in and hovered above Sora and the others, "Zapp Apple Jam is okay, but nothing beats their Apple Cider," she then glared at Pinkie Pie, and if they've got any right now, I get some first. You've had enough!"

"What are you talking about?" Pinkie Pie asked, "I get a fair share everything the Apple's sell their cider."

"Oh, give me a break!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she irately hovered in front of Pinkie Pie, "you always, somehow, get to the front of the line and buy as much cider as you can carry and I almost always end up with nothing. Serious, Pinkie, you've got a problem."

"I don't have a problem," said Pinkie Pie.

"Well, now that I think of it," said Rarity, "no living creature can consume that much cider per day."

"Our cider's good," said Applejack, "it's really good, but too much of any thing is a bad thing."

"I still don't have a problem," said Pinkie Pie.

"I don't mean to sound picky, Pinkie," said Fluttershy, "but you do eat a lot of sweets."

"No I don't," said Pinkie Pie, "if I ate too much sweets, I'd be all roly-poly. Instead, I'm fit as a fiddle and fancy free!"

"Are you kidding me?" Sarah asked, "I saw how much sugary confections you consumed at the Canterlot after-ceremony party. I'm amazed you don't have diabetes, assuming Ponies get diabetes."

"What's diabeetles?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," said Ranma, "and you do have a bit of a problem, or a hyped-up metabolism. Only one way to find out."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Pinkie Pie asked, "wait, are you? What, what am I thinking right now?" she then closed her eyes in concentration, "go on, guess."

"I don't know, I'm not psychic," said Ranma, "I just wanted to challenge you to an eating contest, that's all."

"Oh, I was thinking about how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood," said Pinkie Pie, "but an eating contest works for me too!"

"I'll be a culinary fiasco," said Rarity, she then looked at Rainbow Dash, "and shouldn't you be searching the skies over Ponyville?"

"I finished covering Ponyville," said Rainbow Dash, "and I took a look out over The Ever Free Forest when I thought I heard a dragon roar."

"A dragon roar?" Applejack asked, "there ain't no dragons round these parts 'cept for Spike."

"And my little Spikey Wikey is too kind, sweet and all around adorable to go into the Ever Free Forest," said Rarity, "well, not without reason that is."

"Well, I heard what I heard," said Rainbow Dash, "at first I thought it was that big red dragon we ran into a while back."

"Oh, the one who turned out to be really nice and you hurt his feelings by kicking him in the head?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, that one," said Rainbow Dash in a slightly annoyed tone, "well, I didn't see a dragon, but I saw something even weirder," she then looked at Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders, "you're not the only humans on Equestria right now."

Before Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess and Malcolm could inquire further as to this seemingly impossible statement, they all heard an ear piercing scream.

"Oh my stars!" said a shocked Rarity, "that was Sweetie Belle!"

"It came from the apple orchards!" said Applejack. With that our heroes and allies hurried towards the homestead of the Apple family, rushing into the fields of apple trees.

"Sweetie Belle!" shouted Rarity as she and the others searched for any sign of her sister, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, "Sweetie Belle! Were are you!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Sora shouted, "you see anything?!"

"A whole lot of nothing but apple trees!" Rainbow Dash called from above.

"We can't give up," said Kairi, "they're here somewhere."

"Yeah, them plus trees, trees and more trees," said Malcolm. He looked at Applejack, "seriously, how do you manage to take care of so many apple trees? Let alone harvest them."

"It ain't easy," said Applejack, "I'll tell ya'll all about it after we find my sister. Apple Bloom! Where are you!?"

"Land sake, child," said Granny Smith as she and Big Macintosh hurried over to them, "yer' makin' more noise than a pack of wild hippogriffs in heat."

"Granny Smith! Big Macintosh!" said Applejack, "have you seen Apple Bloom and the others?"

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh, "'bout half 'n hour ago."

"We've been combin' the orchards for whatever's suckin' the life outta the trees," said Granny Smith, "haven't you noticed the dried up apples and leaves?"

"Dried up?" Applejack asked. She then looked at one of the trees and, to her horror, saw the gray and desiccated apples and leaves.

"Goodness!" exclaimed Rarity as she and the others saw the dead apples and leaves, "what in the name of Celestia could have done that?"

"Vampire fruit bats?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "I thought we had a treaty or something with them."

"We still do," said Fluttershy, "at least I still hope we do."

"No, this ain't the work of vampire fruit bats," said Applejack as she looked closer at the desiccated apples and leaves. She then broke open one of the branches, seeing brittle wood turn to powder.

"That's what I told them younglings," said Granny Smith, "and I told 'em to shout out if they find anything, not scream in terror."

"We was on our way to find you guys," said Big Macintosh, "Apple Bloom and her friends are gone."

"Gone?" Applejack asked, "beg your pardon?"

"What do you mean they're gone?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She then got right in Big Macintosh's face, "spill it, big guy!"

"Rainbow, calm down," said Rarity, "getting upset won't help anyone," she then gently pushed Rainbow Dash away from Big Macintosh, "now," she said to the red-coated stallion, "Big Macintosh," her eyes then widened madly as she tackled Big Macintosh to the ground and then jumped onto him, raising her hoof above his face, "you tell me where my sister is or I'll break your head open!"

It took nearly everything Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack had to pull Rarity off of Big Macintosh, but they got her away from him, with Rarity raving like a lunatic.

"Somebody do something!" said Sarah. She then saw Pinkie Pie shaking her head back and forth with a rubber chicken in her mouth, "that's not what I had in mind."

"I've go this," said Sora as he summoned his Keyblade and cast a Blizzard spell, hitting Rarity with a blast of snowflakes that snapped her out of her minor albeit intense psychotic break.

"Oh, sorry," said Rarity as she regained her composure, "I was just worried about Sweetie Belle."

"Hey, my sister's missing too, you know!" said Applejack.

"Scootloo may not be my sister, but she's like one," said Rainbow Dash, "so, what now?"

"Tell us what happened, Granny Smith," said Fluttershy.

"It's like I just done told ya'll," said Granny Smith, "something's suckin' the life out of the apple trees, so I asked Apple Bloom an' her friends to have a look in the east orchards."

"We heard Sweetie Belle scream and ran to find them," said Big Macintosh, "but we didn't find them."

"Are you sure you looked properly?" Aiden asked, "this is a big apple farm. They could be lost."

"No chance!" said Applejack, "me an' Apple Bloom know this farm like the back of our hooves. Ain't no way she'd get lost and neither would Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo, so long as they stayed with Apple Bloom."

"We're getting a little ahead of ourselves here," said Tess, "let's find where they went missing, then figure out what to do from there."

"Allow me," said Sarah. She then closed her eyes in concentration and her Stand, the glowing white woman in Greek armor, Crystal Star, appeared next to her and then vanished.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she trembled from mane to tail for a second, "it made my Pinkie Sense go all coo-coo!"

"That was a Stand," said Ranma, "long story short, it's Sarah's psychic powers made visible or something like that."

Sarah then opened her eyes, "okay, I saw through Crystal Star where Apple Bloom and the others were taken, it's about a quarter mile northwest from here."

A short time later found our heroes and allies at the spot Sarah found. Several trees had been damaged and one was broken, while the ground was heavily disturbed.

"Whatever happened to them," said Ranma as he looked at the ground, "they put up one heck of a fight."

"But where are they?" Kairi asked.

"They were taken," said Tess as she studied the area, she then looked at Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, "your sisters and almost sister fought valiantly, but their opponets were too powerful."

"But where did they go?" Malcolm asked as he too looked at the ground, "I can see three distinct hoof tracks and a fourth set of prints that…I don't know what they are. They're not like any monster tracks I've ever seen, both in books and in real life."

"They're not Heartless tracks, that's for sure," said Riku.

"But where did they go?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew above the area, "I don't see any tracks leading away from here."

"Nor do I see any more tracks of the unknown creature," said Tess, "it's as if the creature flew in, fought with the foals, grabbed them and flew out."

"Look!" said Fluttershy as she pointed at one of the damaged trees. From it she extracted a red ribbon.

"That's Apple Bloom's!" exclaimed Applejack in a horrified tone, "she never goes anywhere without her hair bow!"

"I hope she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are alright," said Kairi.

"How do we find them?" Rarity exclaimed, "they could be halfway across Equestria by now!"

"No, this was still recent," said Ranma, "whatever took them couldn't have gotten too far.

"We can use this to find them," said Malcolm as he took Apple Bloom's ribbon. He then cast a spell, "this locating cantrip will do the trick."

"Wait a second," said Rainbow Dash as she landed in front of Malcolm, "if you can use magic, why can't you find the missing powers?"

"It's like what Twilight Sparkle told us," said Malcolm, "you need the right spell to meet the right circumstances. I don't know a locater spell that can find something as important as the missing powers, but I can find some missing friends." The ribbon then glowed bright green and then shot ahead, "it's got the trail, let's go!"

* * *

They all followed the ribbon through the apple trees, passing more that were suffering the same life-draining blight. Eventually they reached the end of the orderly rows of the orchard to a patch of empty grass, beyond which lay a wild-looking woods.

"That's the Ever Free Forest!" said Fluttershy.

"That thing that took Apple Bloom and the others, it took them in there!?" Apple Jack asked, while Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked a bit nervous, even Rainbow Dash looked unnerved.

"It's just a forest," said Ranma.

"There's no such thing as 'just a forest,'" said Sarah, "especially not with the likes of the Ever Free Forest."

"There's all sorts of crazy things in there!" said Pinkie Pie, "nothing really scary, especially after dark."

"It's still not a place to be underestimated," said Rarity, "terrible things lurk in those woods," she then squared her jaw and glared defiantly at the forest in front of them, "but if my sister has been taken there then not even the most prestigious fashion show in all of Equestira will deter me!"

"Us neither!" said Applejack, while Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, all nodded in agreement.

"Then let's go rescue them younglings," said Granny Smith. She took a few steps towards the forest, when everyone heard a soft cracking and then Granny Smith grunted in pain, "oh, dang nabbit!" she shouted.

"Granny Smith!" exclaimed Applejack as she rushed over, while Granny Smith leaned on Big Macintosh for support.

"I'm alright," said Granny Smith in a slightly weary tone, "it's this dang blasted hip of mine. In all the excitement, I fergot to take my medicine."

"Big Macintosh," said Applejack, "you take Granny Smith back to the house and stay with her, I'll be back with Apple Bloom."

"Now hang on a minute!" said Granny Smith, "I ain't no invalid, I can make it back to the farmhouse myself, and I ain't goin' back to the farmhouse! I'm gonna rescue my youngest grandchild!" She then tried to stand up straight but winced in pain and leaned back against Big Macintosh again.

"The only place you're going is back home and into bed," said Applejack.

"You know, I can heal that hip of yours if you like, Mrs. Smith," said Kairi.

"Can you?" Sora asked, "will your healing powers work on a Pony?"

"We won't know if I don't try," said Kairi.

"Ain't no hairless monkey from another world gonna experiment with magic on me!" snapped Granny Smith, "I'm perfectly fine!" she then tried to stand up straight again but nearly fell down, only to be caught by Applejack and Big Macintosh.

"Sorry, Granny Smith," said Big Macintosh as Applejack helped the elderly mare onto his back, "but I'm takin' you straight home."

"I don't suppose I can talk you out of it, can I?" Granny Smith asked weakly.

"Nope," said Big Macintosh.

"Alright, alright," sighed Granny Smith, "I'll go quietly," she then looked at Applejack, "you just make sure you and yer sister come back. I hate to lose two granddaughters in one day."

"Don'tcha worry a single gray hair on your head, Granny Smith," said Applejack, "we'll find Apple Bloom and the others."

"And make whoever or whatever took them regret they ever set foot in Equestria," said Ranma as he cracked his knuckles.

"What he said," Sora remarked as he, Kairi, Riku, Tess, Aiden, Malcolm and Sarah nodded in agreement.

"Just come back safe," said Granny Smith. She then spoke to Big Macintosh, "let's go, and don't move so much!"

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh as he slowly walked back towards the farmhouse, while Sora and the others entered the Ever Free Forest. They followed the spelled ribbon, moving pass ancient trees and wild undergrowth as the overhead foliage grew thicker and thicker, dimming the sunlight more and more with every step deeper into the woods.

"What's that old riddle about how far you can go into a forest?" a slightly uncomfortable Aiden asked, "how you can only go halfway, right?"

"It's still a big forest," said Tess as she used her razor to mark one of the trees, "just in case."

"Good idea," said Riku. He then flinched at a nearby noise, "what was that?!"

"Just a bird," said Ranma, he then winced at another bird cry, "but I agree, this place gives me the creeps."

"Oh, it's not that scary," said Pinkie Pie as she happily skipped along with our heroes and allies, "if you see something scary, just laugh at it," she then demonstrated by laughing at a nearby tree that, via a combination of light, shadow and its appearance, resembled a monster with outreaching claws.

"Some terrors can't be dispelled by laughter alone," said Sarah, "and some living nightmares can't be defeated."

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked, "of course any baddie can be beaten."

"What if that baddie is immortal?" Sarah asked, "and can't be killed? Only delayed in his bid to cover the world in eternal darkness."

"Are you talking about Tirnac?" Riku asked.

"I thought we cleaned that bastard's clock," said Aiden.

"You fought Tirnac? The Lord of Midnight Castle?" Rainbow Dashed asked, she then let out a low whistle of appreciation, "that guy was hardcore."

"He still is," said Sarah, "we didn't kill him, his twisted dark soul still exists."

"But…we saw him die," said Kairi.

"We saw his body destroyed, but his soul escaped deep underground," said Sarah, "far from the reaches of the sun. No, he's still alive, waiting for his chance to return."

"Who told you this?" Sora asked.

"The Moochick," said Sarah, "about a week before I got the invite to come to the big meeting on Radiant Garden."

"And he didn't bother to tell us this before?!" Aiden exclaimed, "oh wait, of course he didn't, he forgot."

"Actually he found out that Tirnac was still alive two weeks before I got the invite," said Sarah, "he would have told me and the others then but, yes, he forgot."

"So now we've got to worry about Tirnac coming back," said Riku, "and I don't think Kenshin Himura is going to come and help us this time."

"Let's just worry about rescuing Apple Bloom and the others for now," said Kairi.

"That I can deal with," said Aiden, "so bring on whatever took them," he then pressed his wrists, "I'm ready, so let's do this!"

Just then, as they were rounding a particularly large tree to avoid a patch of thorny vines, Rainbow Dash and Malcolm, whom were in the lead, collided with Reina and Rita, whom was rounding the tree from the other side. The four of them landing in a heap on the forest floor

"Hey! Why don't you watch where you're going!?" snapped Rita as she helped her twin back up.

"Why don't you watch where you're going!?" Malcolm snapped as he and Rainbow Dash helped each other back up.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Reina happily as she saw Rainbow Dash, "you're amazing!"

"I…well, thanks, I guess," said Rainbow Dash hesitantly.

"Hey, it's you two," said Sora as he, Riku, Kairi, Tess and Aiden, especially Aiden, recognized the twins.

"Oh, it's you guys," said Rita, "how's it going?"

"We're fine," said Kairi, "you?"

"We've been keeping busy since we finished Zerlina off," said Reina, "you?"

"More of the same old same old," said Riku.

"Uh…hi," said Aiden in a nervous tone.

"Oh, hey, Aiden," said Reina as she smiled warmly, "you miss us?"

"I…yeah…uh…" said Aiden

Just then Guy, Cassie and the rest from E-Branch entered the area. "What the bloody hell are you lot doing here?!" Guy exclaimed after seeing Sora and the others.

"Aren't they the ones who helped you finish Zerlina for good?" Yuki asked.

"Aren't you the girl the twins kinda adopted?" Kairi asked.

"What's with the weird creatures?" Rita asked as she looked at Applejack and the other Ponies.

"They're not weird," said a happily smiling Reina, "they're wonderful."

"Why, thank you kindly, stranger," said Applejack, "you're alright yourself."

The next few minutes were spent as our two sets of heroes got reacquainted with each other while new faces were introduced.

"So, you're the newest Keyblade kid, huh?" Rita asked as she and her twin looked at Malcolm in an apprising manner.

"Uh, yeah, I am," said Malcolm hesitantly, "kinda."

"Mm-hum," said Reina as she walked around Malcolm, "mm-hum, you'll do."

"Stop flirting with him, he's just a kid," said Cassie.

"I'm not flirting," said Reina, "you'll know when I'm flirting," she then eyed Ranma, "now he's one to flirt with," she then sidled up to Ranma, "so, big boy, you doing anything tonight?" she then ran a hand lustfully up and down his chest.

"I…uh…" said a heavily sweating Ranma.

"Hey! Paws off!" snapped Sarah.

"I was just playing with him," said Reina as she stepped away from Ranma, "just fooling around a bit."

"Well, he's not a toy to play with," said Sarah irately.

"Damn right I'm not," said Ranma. He then looked defiantly at Reina, "let's get things straight between the two of us. I've had too many bad experiences with girls who thought they could have their way with me, both in and out of bed. I'm a one-girl guy and I'm staying that way!" he and Sarah then put their arms around each shoulders.

"I know," said Reina, "and I respect that. But, in case you two are ever interested in spicing up your relationship," she then smiled lustfully, "I'm available."

"Uh…thanks, I guess," said Sarah as she and Ranma blushed.

"Ignore her, she's boy-crazy," said Rita, "I'm the more sensible twin."

"You're too much of a tomboy be sensible," said Reina.

"You think I'm a prude?" Rita asked, "I'll show you who's a prude!" she then walked right up to Aiden, "you remember what we talked about before we fought and killed Zerlina?"

"Uh…yes," said a surprised Aiden, "I remember."

"Well, as soon as we're done with the mission here," said Rita as she smiled lovingly, "how's about we spend a week in Vegas? I know a few high rollers whom owe me a favor and we'll get our own hotel suite."

"Count me in too!" said Reina as she stood between Aiden and her twin, "I was there when you two had your little talk. Where my sister goes, I go."

"As if I could forget," said Aiden as he smiled eagerly.

"If you three are done fantasizing about your future sex lives," said Yuki, "we've still got a mission to accomplish."

"What is your mission?" Kairi asked, "more Wamphyri?"

"No, nothing involving the undead," said Cassie, "otherwise Dana would be involved and she's on her own mission right now."

"We're tracking a necromancer who stole some highly dangerous top secret information," said Guy, "right out of the mind of a scientist he murdered and torn to pieces."

"How repulsive!" said Rarity.

"You don't know the half of it," said Guy. He then looked at Sora, "so what brings you here?"

"It's a long story," said Riku, "but right now we're trying to rescue some kidnapped foals."

"Have any of you seen my sister?" Applejack asked. She, Rarity and Rainbow Dash then described Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"No, haven't seen anyone like them," said Cassie.

"We'd remember if we saw any talking ponies before we met you," said Rita.

"I can't believe such amazing creatures live on this world," said a giddy Reina as she admired Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

"Oh, we're not that special," said Fluttershy modestly.

"Well, I find such praise flattering," said Rarity. She then looked at the twin's form-fitting attire, "and while your apparel flatters your figures, you could use a tad bit more style."

"We'll speak with the E-Branch quartermaster when we get back," said Rita, "but have any of you seen our target?" He then described Simpkins to our heroes and allies.

"Haven't seen him," said Tess, "just what is the info that he stole?"

"And how dangerous is it?" Kairi asked.

"Dangerous enough to get us involved," said Cassie, "as to the exact nature of the stolen information, I'm afraid it's classified, sorry."

"Our only lead at this point is a negative presence I've sensed," said Daniel, "an esper with a particularly evil mind," he then pointed in the direction he and the E-Branch team had been going, "thataway."

"That's the way Apple Bloom and the others were taken!" said Malcolm.

"Maybe we're following the same dark mind," said Sora.

"It's possible the two incidences are connected," said Yuki, "perhaps we can resolve our respective missions together."

"Then let's go get them!" said Rainbow Dash as she did a midair loop.

* * *

"Well, Crusaders," said Apple Bloom as she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, sat with their forelegs chained together in a cage in the middle of a hollow deep within the Ever Free Forest, "I'd say we're in one doozy of a mess."

"You think?" Scootaloo asked irately as she struggled to free her forelegs from her chains but to no avail, "I knew we should have gone back to the clubhouse and thought of something else to try, something safe for once like…singing telegram messengers! We could be great at that!"

"A good idea but now's not the time," said Apple Bloom, "we've got to get out of here first."

"And away from these things," said Scootaloo as she looked around at the dozens of Changelings in the hollow. Some of the shape shifting creatures were guarding the cage, baring their teeth and hissing at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, licking their chops in anticipation of inflicting some unknown torment on the three foals.

"I'm more worried about that thing," said Apple Bloom as she looked at the big, black insect creature, sitting on a nearby rock, the very same creature that had taken them from the apple orchard. The creature was a cross between a black stag beetle and a scorpion, with scorpion claws and a stinger tail, but also with stag beetle pincher and a set of drooling mandibles in its abomination of a head. On its back were a set of beetle wings

"What do you think they're gonna do to us?" Sweetie Belle asked in a fearful tone, the young unicorn had been trembling with terror ever since the three foals had been shoved into the cage.

"Maybe the Changelings are gonna eat us," said Scootaloo, "or feed us to that big ugly bug, or something worse."

"I don't wanna be eaten!" cried Sweetie Belle, her eyes welling up with tears, "I don't wanna be eaten by Changelings or big ugly bugs!"

"They're not gonna eat us!" said Apple Bloom in a reassuring tone, "we managed to rough up that bug a bit before it grabbed us, so we can handle a bunch of low down, dirty Changelings."

"There isn't much we can do like this," said Scootaloo as she indicated her chained forelegs, and also a set of chains binding her wings to her back, while Sweetie Belle's horn had a black ring placed on it, nullifying her innate Unicorn magic.

"We still got our brains," said Apple Bloom, "if we can't fight our way out, we'll think our way out."

With that, the three foals sat and thought.

"Anyone got an idea yet?" Scootaloo asked after half a minute of silent meditation.

"Uh…nope," said Apple Bloom.

"I think…wait…I…I…" said Sweetie Belle, "I almost had an idea there…great, it's gone."

"Keep tryin'," said Apple Bloom, "we ain't finished yet."

"Oh, but you are," said a sinister voice. Walking into the hollow was a gray-cloaked human with multi-faceted eyes like an insect. The beetle-scorpion on the rock stood up and bowed its head, while the Changelings also bowed in respect.

"My, what pretty little ponies," said the gray-cloaked humanoid as he eyes Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, "and such brave young ones. I'm actually impressed at the level of resistance you gave my comrade." At that the beetle-scorpion hybrid clicked something with its mandibles.

"Yes, I know they surprised you," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "but that's still no excuse for showing weakness. You'll serve your punishment soon enough," he then looked at the three foals again, "now, what to do with you little ones?"

"Before you do whatever you're gonna do to us," said Apple Bloom, "I wanna know what you're doing to my family's apple trees!"

"Have you lost it?!" Scootaloo shouted, "we're gonna be killed or worse, and all you're worried about is some sick trees?"

"It's not like I've got nothing to lose by asking," said Apple Bloom.

"True," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "but you are in no position to demand anything, let alone the truth. Still, I'll indulge this little request of yours. Yes, my comrades and I are responsible for the blight afflicting your family orchards."

"Why?" Sweetie Belle asked, "why are you sucking the life out of the apple trees? What'd they ever do to you?"

"Nothing," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "they're just a means to an end." He then began coughing violently, "excuse me a moment," he said between coughs. He pulled out from his cloak what looked like a spherical sponge that glowed with white energy. He then placed the sponge-like object to his lips, squeezed it with his fist and breathed in deeply. The white energy poured out of the sponge and was inhaled into his lungs.

"That's better," said the gray-cloaked humanoid. As he pocketed the now dry sponge, then pulled out another white energy-saturated sponge and tossed it to the beetle-scorpion hybrid, whom caught the sponge in its claws and brought it to its mandibles and sucked the energy out of it greedily.

"You see," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "my people, The Raztonians, we require a special form of energy to survive outside our native environment. Well, it's not exactly our native environment. In laymen's terms, we originally came from one place but were banished to another. We've been in exile for so long we've adapted to our prison's environment. But our time of banishment has expired and we're preparing to return to our true home in force to reclaim what's ours. There's still much to be done and we haven't fully adjusted to our original environment again, so we must harvest the energy of other worlds and convert it into what we need."

"It's not just our apple trees," said a horrified Apple Bloom as realization clicked into place in her mind, "you're gonna suck the life out of the whole world!"

"After our Changeling allies are finished with this world, yes," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "they've been very helpful in our plans. There's only a handful of my people on this world and we lack the natural shape shifting powers the Changelings have."

"But how are you doing it?" Apple Bloom asked as the thought she saw Applejack sneaking from one tree to another, "how are you sucking the life out of the trees?"

"It's quite simple, little Earth Pony," said one of the Changelings in a hissing tone, "our alien allies provided us with the mechanisms that gather the energy they need."

"While we move about undetected among you single-form fools!" said another Changeling. With a flash of green light, it became a fly.

"How little you Ponies take notice of the most miserable of creatures," hissed a third Changeling, "while we slowly but surely plant the seeds of this world's doom!"

"And…what do you Changelings get out of this?" Scootaloo asked as she thought she saw Rainbow Dash out of the corner of her eye, the speeder Pegasus taking cover behind a tree and giving Scootaloo a reassuring wink.

"It's not what we want, little Pegasus," said another Changeling, "it's what Queen Chrysalis wants."

"And what Queen Chrysalis wants is revenge!" hissed another Changeling, "revenge on the Ponies whom ruined her plan to take over Equestria!"

"Twilight and the others!" said Apple Bloom, "you're gonna try an' kill them!" she then glared defiantly at the Changelings, "well, you ain't gonna do it! They stopped you before, they can do it again!"

"And they'll stop you from sucking the life out of the world!" said Scootaloo.

"They have no idea we're working together," said one of the Changelings.

"Nor do they even know my people are here," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "not even your precious Princesses, Celestia and Luna, they are completely in the dark," he then chuckled a bit, "pun intended."

"That was so funny I forgot to laugh," said Apple Bloom sarcastically.

"You should laugh while you can," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "you don't have many opportunities left."

"What are you gonna do to us?" Scootaloo asked nervously.

"Why, experiment on you, of course," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "each world my people visit is different, each with minuscule but significantly different laws of physics and magic. It takes time to adapt Raztonian technology to a world. Our normal procedure is to test the energy draining on plants, lower and medium animal species and lastly, on the dominant species of the world. And then, once everything is in place, we drain all life of its energy in one fell swoop, leaving the world a desiccated husk of its former self!"

"Once you Ponies have been reduced to so many shriveled mummies," said one of the Changelings, "Queen Chrysalis will assume control of this worlds magic and remake it in her own darkly glorious image with an unlimited food supply!" at that the dozens of Changelings all cheered with vile glee.

"You're crazy! All of you!" said Apple Bloom defiantly.

"Perhaps," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "perhaps not."

"Enough of this prater!" said one of the Changelings whom was a few inches bigger and heavier than the others, "either begin the experiment or we will kill the whelps!"

"And when they're dead," said one of the Changelings, whom with a flash of green light assumed the shape of Apple Bloom, now speaking in her voice, "we'll take their places."

"It'll be as if they got lost in the apple trees for a bit," said another after assuming Scootaloo's form, "no one will ever know the difference."

"Until it's too late," said a third Changeling after assuming Sweetie Belle's form, "by then this world will be drained dry and remade into a Changeling paradise."

"And my people will be one world closer to our glorious return to our rightful world," said the gray-cloaked humanoid.

At that Sweetie Belle's eyes welled up with tears again while her lips trembled, "I…I don't want to be replaced by a Changeling! I don't want the world to be drained of life!"

"Oh no!" said Apple Bloom as she and Scootaloo tried to get out of the way, "she's gonna do it!"

"Do what?" the gray-cloaked humanoid asked irately. He then noticed that the beetle-scorpion hybrid was urgently trying to get his attention, "what is it?!" he asked.

Tears then poured out of Sweetie Belle's eyes with the force of double fire hoses as she let out an ear-piercing wail of sorrow.

As Scootaloo and Apple Bloom tried to avoid being drenched by their friend's tears, they noticed that the Changelings were all moaning in pain as they clutched their hooves to their ears, while some of them were spontaneously changing their shapes in rapid progression, as if they had lost control of their powers.

At the same time, the beetle-scorpion hybrid was thrashing about on the ground as if having a seizure, while the gray-cloaked humanoid was stumbling about in agony, his hands covering his ears.

After a few seconds, Sweetie Belle ceased her sorrowful wail, sniffing back more tears as she looked around in confusion as the disabled creatures in the area. "What…what happened?" she asked.

"You!" spat the gray-cloaked humanoid as he regained his balance, while the Changelings and beetle-scorpion hybrid also recovered, "you wretched little reject from the glue factory! For that your suffering shall be legendary!" he then summoned a gray and black fireball, "even in hell!"

"NOOOO!" shouted Rarity as she ran out from behind a tree, rushing past the rows of Changelings and delivered a spinning double kick to the gray-cloaked humanoid, knocking him down and dispelling his fireball, "don't you touch my sister, you fiend!"

"Rarity!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle happily.

"Hang on, younglings!" said Applejack as she, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash came out from hiding, followed by Sora and the rest of the humans, "we'll have you outta there in two shakes of a rabbit's tail!"

"Five of the famous Mane 6," said the gray-cloaked humanoid as he glared at Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Rarity with hate in his multi-faceted eyes, while the Changelings all hissed with wrath.

"I thought of all sorts of crazy baddies were behind this," said Pinkie Pie, "but Changelings and aliens bent on sucking the life out of the world, even I couldn't have come up with that."

"When Pinkie Pie can't outthink the bad guys," said Rainbow Dash, "that's when you worry."

"But we're not," said Sora, "now that we're here."

"We heard every word of your vile plan, you bug-eyed bastard!" said Aiden, "and we're going to stop you!"

"And just who are you to stop the Raztonians from taking the life energy of this world?" the gray-cloaked humanoid asked, he then looked at the twins and the rest of the E-Branch team, "and who are you idiots?"

"We're just a passing through bunch of heroes," said Reina, "remember it!"

"It's not part of our mission," said Guy as he unsheathed a long curved knife, "but we'd be sad excuses for righteous people to let you harm innocent lives."

"Yuki," said Rita, "you and the rest of the noncombat operatives hang back. We'll get the foals to you and you run for it."

"Are you kidding?!" Yuki asked, "I didn't come all this way just to sit out on a fight," she then pressed a button on her wheelchair. A set of robotic arms emerged from the back of her powered chair and removed her jumpsuit, revealing the black exoskeleton suit underneath. Another set of robotic arms brought out a HUD headset and placed it on Yuki, connecting the headset with the suit. With a click and hum of flowing electricity, Yuki stood up from her wheelchair.

"I thought her back was broken!" said Sora.

"I am paralyzed," said Yuki, "my legs may be useless, but my brain is fully functional," she then raised her arm and pointed it at the gray-cloaked humanoid, "evildoer, you face The Neo M.A.N.T.I.S.!"

"Nice title," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "but it'll do you little good!" he then summoned more black flames and threw it at Yuki, whom dodged them as easily as avoiding a paper airplane, while her wheelchair activated an automatic drive mode and scooted out of the way. Yuki then aimed her left wrist at the humanoid and from a hidden launcher, fired a dart that hit its target in the neck.

The gray-cloaked humanoid grunted in pain as he tried to pull out the dart, while green energy arced across his body, slowing his movements. Within seconds he was completely immobilized.

"What was that?" Riku asked.

"A creation of another's genius," said Yuki, "the dart temporarly neutralizes nerve impulses and paralyzes muscles. He won't be bothering us for half an hour, depending on his metabolism.

Just then the beetle-scorpion hybrid shriked in fury and leapt at Yuki, whom jumped out of the way with the grace and ease of a grasshopper, landing on the other side of the area. She then broke the lock of the cage as if it were made of cardboard and procceded to demolish the chains binding Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"Wow! You're amazing!" said Sweetie Belle as Yuki took the black ring off of her horn, then freed Scootaloo's wings.

"Thanks," said Yuki, "you all up for running for your lives?"

"Are we ever," said Scootaloo.

"I don't think they're gonna let us go," said Apple Bloom as she saw the throngs of Changelings blocking their escape.

"How many darts do you have?" Scootaloo asked.

"Not enough to get them all," said Yuki, "but I've got other weapons up my sleeve."

"Save them for later!" said Rita as she grabbed a Changeling and bashed it on the head, knocking it out, while Reina used a Thunder spell to blast another. Guy and the other combative operatives were also fighting the shape shifting creatures, using knives, pole arms and various edged weapons, while Cassie provided support with a crossbow.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess and Malcolm had their Keyblades out and were bashing Changelings left and right, while Applejack bucked several, Rarity stunned with dazzling blasts of magic from her horn, Rainbow Dash knocked several over with her speed, Pinkie Pie stunning several with her own repertoire of tricks and Fluttershy waiting at a nearby tree, waving Yuki and the foals over.

At the same time, Ranma and Sara were facing off against the beetle-scorpion hybrid, dodging its grasping claws, its gnashing fangs and stinging tail. Ranma sought an opening in which to deliver a deivstaing combo attack, while Sarah, via Crystal Star, blocked the creature's vicious organic weapons.

"Time to move!" shouted Yuki as she and the foals ran for the edge of the hollow. But they barely got more than a few paces when more Changelings showed up to join the fray, the creatures flashing into duplicates of Sora, the twins, Ponies and the rest of our heroes and allies.

"Okay, now I'm havin' flashbacks!" said Applejack as she faced off against three copies of herself.

"Like the Battle of Canterlot all over again!" said Rainbow Dash as she faced six duplicates of herself.

"They may look like us!" said Sora after bashing one of his copies in the head, "but they don't fight like us!"

"Our copies don't have Keyblades!" said Kairi after bashing one of her copies.

"Okay, so we can tell which ones are the real Keyblade Wielders," said Guy as he and Cassie found themselves facing themselves many times over, "but what about the rest of us?" he saw that the other E-Branch operatives were confused by their multiple doppelgangers.

"I've got an idea!" said the real Ranma, "Sara!"

"Yes?" asked several copies of Sarah.

"Not you jackasses!" exclaimed Ranma. He then proceeded to punch the copies of Sarah in the face, each hit knocking out the Changelings and forcing them to revert back to their true forms, "the real Sarah!"

"I'm still here!" shouted the original Sarah as she dodged a singer strike from the beetle-scorpion hybrid, "and I'll be fine for a bit, so go kick some imposter ass!"

"Thanks!" said Ranma, "so here I go! _Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken_!" he then ran through the area, delivering hundreds of punches with enough speed to grab a roasting chestnut out of an open fire without burning his hands. The result of this fistful barrage left nearly ever Changeling in the area unconscious or similarly unable to fight.

This freed up Sora, Riku and Kairi to help Sarah finish off the beetle-scorpion hybrid. Riku and Kairi threw their Keyblades at the creature, with Riku's smashing one of its claws and Kairi's taking out half its legs. Sora rushed in and cut off the creature's tail, while Sarah, via Crystal Star, picked up the creature and threw it high into the air. As it came crashing back down, Crystal Star reared back and delivered a devastating punch to its head with enough force to smash the rest of it into goo and pieces of exo-shell.

"And that's that," said Sarah as she brushed her hands off.

"NOOO!" shouted the gray-cloaked humanoid. He then unleashed a wave of dark energy that knocked nearly all of our heroes and allies to the ground, leaving them drained of energy.

"Oh man, I hate it when the enemy does that!" said Tess as she, Malcolm and Aiden tried to get back up yet could barely sit up.

"I feel like I've been bucking apples for a month nonstop!" said Applejack as she and Rarity tried to get back up.

"I feel like I've been partying nonstop for a month," said Pinkie Pie as she tried to stand up on wobbly knees, "why didn't my Pinkie Sense warn me this would happen?"

"No one said that ESP abilities were infallible," said Cassie as she, Guy and the rest of the E-Branch team tried to get back up. Only Sora, Riku, Kairi, Rainbow Dash Ranma, Sarah,, Reina, Rita and Yuiki were still standing, with the three Keyblade Wielders, Rainbow Dash and the twins panting for breath and looking as if they were exhausted. Ranma and Sarah were in slightly better shape, while Yuki was unaffected.

"My suit must have protected me from the dark magic," said Yuki.

"Good to know," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "but it won't do you much good. You shall all suffer for the death of a Raztonian!"

"Oh shut up!" shouted Rita as she and Reina tried to summon fireballs but barely produced sparks.

"Well, that's not good," said Reina.

"You guys hang back," said Ranma, "I can handle this!"

"You?! Handle me?!" exclaimed the gray-cloaked humanoid as the throngs of Changelings recovered, "I think not!" he then shot a beam of dark magic at Ranma, whom barely avoided it, the beam hitting a nearby tree and reducing it to ashes.

"It can't keep that up forever!" said Sarah, only to barely dodge a beam herself.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" said the gray-cloaked humanoid, while the Changelings rushed at Sora, Riku, Kairi and the twins, whom were barely able to keep the creatures from overwhelming them.

Just then a beam of purple magic shot down from above, blasting several Changelings and knocking them unconscious.

"Twilight!" shouted Rainbow Dash as Twilight Sparkle,m with Spike on her back, flew down through the clearing, blasting Changelings left and right with her magic.

"Everyone! Sorry I'm late!" shouted Twilight Sparkle as she landed next to Sora and Kairi, "I was so engrossed in this incredibly fascinating book I discovered and…"

"You can tell us all about it later, Twilight," said Rarity as she and the others managed to get back up, "after we deal with our current predicament."

"We are kinda in a sticky situation," said Kairi as she, Sora and Riku, downed Mega Potions, then began handing them out to the others, restoring their stamina.

"Twilight Sparkle!" hissed one of the Changelings with unadulterated loathing, while the other shape shifters hissed with equal hate, "I have a message from Queen Chrysalis. She wants you alive so she can deal with you herself."

"I figured she'd want to settle things one on one," said Twilight Sparkle defiantly, "tell Chrysalis I'm ready whenever she is!"

"No!" snapped the gray-robbed humanoid, "I will destroy these infidels myself!"

"You dare defy the will of Queen Chrysalis?!" exclaimed one of the Changelings.

"Your pathetic queen would still be in helpless despair if it weren't for we Raztonians!" snapped the gray-cloaked humanoid, "and I will eliminate these interlopers here and now!" he then glared hatefully at Sora, Riku, Kairi and Sarah, "and I'll start with you four meddling brats."

"I never get tired of being called that," said Riku, "it makes you feel really good when you know you've gotten under the skin of a villain."

"Mock me while you can," said the gray-cloaked humanoid, "for your hour of doom is at hand!" he then began convulsing violently as his body began to expand, his cloak ripping as he underwent a horrific metamorphosis, transforming him into a creature with the lower body of a centipede, an engorged humanoid upper torso with four multi-segmented limbs that ended in razor-sharp claws and a mouth full of needle-like fangs dripping with venom and a set of serated-edged mandibles.

"I am Kalok'karso!" exclaimed the creature as its mandibles clicked wickedly, "and I am the instrument of your destructions!" its arms then fired off beams of dark magic at our heroes, forcing Sora and the others to take cover.

"You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Ranma as he, Sarah, Sora, Riku and Kairi took cover behind a fallen tree trunk, narrowly avoiding a dark magic beam, "this guy is way too hardcore!"

"Are you saying you want to give up?" Riku asked.

"Hell no!" said Ranma irately, "but I'd be nice if for once I wasn't in a completely insane fight."

"I'm open to suggestions to restore sanity to the situation," said Sarah. She then stood up and, via Crystal Star, blocked one of the beams, only narrowly dodge a claw slash from the Kalok'karso, its multiple legs giving it incredible land speed and agility. Sarah dodged another claw slash, only to be grazed slightly on her arm by another slash, knocking her to the ground.

Ranma got in front of the creature and blocked a claw slash, only to be swatted to the ground by a backhand strike from the creature.

"My true form gives me strength beyond that of even super humans!" exclaimed Kalok'karso. It then grunted in pain from a fireball thrown by Reina, "insolent monkey!" it snapped as it shot two dark magic beams at Reina, whom barely dodged it.

Rita rushed in and delivered a hard kick to the creature's torso, but the nightmarish thing endured the blow as if it were a tap on the shoulder. It tried to grab Rita, only to be blasted in the face by a beam of Twilight Sparkle's magic.

Yuki then rushed in and fired two of her immobilizing darts but the projectile bounced off its armor-like shell. She then fired a set of green lasers from her headset, hitting the creature and scoring its shell, but it only annoyed the creature.

"You fools!" snapped Kalok'karso, "you cannot defeat me!" it then finally grabbed Rita in its four arms and before Rita could try to free herself, it bit her on the shoulder, earning a cry of pain from Rita as the creature's venom entered her system. It tossed Rita to the ground like a rag doll.

"Get away from my sister!" shouted Reina as she threw fireball after fireball at the creature, but her flames simply fizzled out on impact.

"Keep that up and I'll do the same to you!" shouted Kalok'karso. But then it saw Rarity trying to help Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo out of the area. "I've got a better idea!" it said. It then rushed at Rarity, moving so fast that the white-coated Unicorn barely had time to yelp as it grabbed her.

"Say goodbye to this one, little ponies!" shouted Kalok'karso. It then bit Rarity on the shoulder. She gave a gasp of surprise and pain, then passed out.

At that Sweetie Belle let out a long scream of terror at the sight of Rarity's helplessness. Suddenly, Kalok'karso groaned in pain and stumbled about, its balance disrupted. It dropped Rarity from its fangs and its upper limbs went to its head as if to block out a horrible sound. At the same time, the Changelings still conscious also moaned in pain and covered their ears.

"What's happening to them?" Sora asked as he and Kairi dragged Reina over to Malcolm, while Rainbow Dash and Riku hurried to get to Rarity.

"I…I don't know," said Reina as Malcolm used his Keyblade to draw out the poison afflicting Rita, while Kairi used her healing magic to close the bite wound.

"Why are the Changelings and that freakazoid reacting this way?" Guy asked.

"It happened when Sweetie Belle cried before," said an astonished Aiden.

"And when that bug thing first tried to grab us!" said Scootaloo as she, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hurried with Riku and Rainbow Dash as they carried Rarity to Malcolm.

"Of course!" said Twilight Sparkle, "Sweetie Belle, her voice must reach the right pitch when she screams to hurt Changelings and those two aliens!"

"Huh?" Sweetie Belle asked as Malcolm drew the poison out from Rarity.

"Your voice, it hurts them!" said Reina.

"Scream, Sweetie Belle!" exclaimed Yuki, "scream for the lives of those you love!"

"NO!" shouted Kalok'karso as it and the Changelings recovered, "I won't let you!" The creature and the Changelings then rushed at Sweetie Belle with ravenous murder in their eyes.

Sweetie Belle then inhaled deeply, taking in more air than a life form her size and build normally would, then let out an even more intense scream than before. Kalok'karso and the Changelings were stopped dead in their tracks as they all began thrashing about in pain, some of them beating their ears in a hopeless attempt to block out the noise.

"Now!" Sora shouted, "hit them hard and fast!"

"I got it!" shouted Aiden as he used his Keyblade to send out an Alchemic blast that produced spikes wherever a Changeling lay about on the ground, impaling nearly all of them, while also sheering off several of Kalok'karso's legs and piercing part of his upper torso.

Sweetie Belle's scream finally stopped and she lay gasping for air on the ground.

"My, what incredible lungs my little sister has," said Rarity weakly as Kairi finished healing her.

"Rarity…you…you're alright," gasped Sweetie Belle.

"As if a horrible insect from another world could take me away from you," said Rarity. She got to her feet and walked over to Sweetie Belle, where the two sisters embraced lovingly.

"Aww!" said Apple Bloom, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Reina, Sarah, Tess, Kairi, Cassie and Yuki.

"Eew!" exclaimed at Scootaloo as she pointed with her hoof at the battlefield, where the impaled Changelings were dissolving into black slime.

"Well, that's…interesting," said a mildly disgusted Rainbow Dash.

"And one problem solved," said Guy.

"Now for this other one," said Rita as she and Reina glared at Kalok'karso, the insectoic creature still stumbling about.

"You…you think you've won!?" exclaimed Kalok'karso, "this is just the beginning! You shall pay for the death of a Raztonian! This world is doomed and there's nothing you can do to stop it!" with that the creature teleported out.

"Oh yeah?!" Reina shouted after it, "well, screw you!"

"Nice," said Yuki, "real original." Just then her suit began beeping, "oh no!" she exclaimed as the humming from her suit ceised and she collapsed to the ground.

"Yuki!" shouted both twins as they rushed to their friend's side.

"I'm alright," said Yuki as the twins helped her sit up, "my suit just switched off, that's all."

"Is it damaged?" Aiden asked as he, Sora and Kairi hurried over.

"No, just an automatic cutoff program," said Yuki as one of the operatives brought over her wheelchair, "I just can't use it for more than fifteen minutes at a time."

"Well that sucks," said Ranma, "having something that helps you beat your disability and you can't use it as much as you want."

"It's a step in the right direction," said Yuki as she gripped the arms of her wheelchair.

"Need any help?" Kairi asked.

"No, I'm used to this," said Yuki as she pulled herself into her wheelchair, the robotic arms removing her headset.

"Hey! We've got a live one!" shouted Guy. Our heroes and allies gathered around Guy as he indicated a still breathing and conscious Changeling.

"A prisoner of war," said Cassie.

"What do we do with it?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"What do you think we're going to do with it?" Rainbow Dash asked, "we make it tell us where Queen Chrysalis is."

"And anything it can tell us about the Rastonians," said Tess as she pulled out her razor.

"And if it knows anything about our fugitive," said Guy.

"You single-formed fools!" hissed the Changeling, "I'll never tell you anything!"

"You'd be surprised what some people can do under the right persuasion," said Malcolm.

"You mean torture?" Sarah asked.

"You can't do that!" exclaimed Fluttershy, "you can't intentionally hurt someone like that!"

"Why not?" Guy asked, "I'll be that this creature and others like it wouldn't blink twice about torturing any of us for information. They'd probably do it for fun as well."

"I was thinking more along the line of this," said Malcolm as he summoned a small vial of a clear fluid, "Veritaserum, a few drops of this and our shape shifting friend will be begging to tell his secrets."

"Where'd you get that?" Sora asked.

"Professor Slughorn," said Malcolm, "before things went completely insane at Hogwarts," he then summoned a copy of Advanced Potion-Making, "he gave me this and autographed it," he then opened it to the inside cover, where Sora and the others could see the signature of Horace Slughorn.

"So you brewed it yourself?" Riku asked, "cool."

"I'll never talk!" spat the Changeling, "I'll never betray my Queen!" it then bit down hard and our heroes and allies could hear a soft crunching noise, at which the Changeling shuddered violently for a few seconds before dissolving into black slime.

"Suicide capsule in a fake tooth," said Guy, "it chose the honorable way out."

"Or the coward's way out," said Rita, "depending on how you look at it."

"Which leaves us with no clue as to where to go from here," said Yuki.

"At least we're all safe," said Cassie.

"Yep, thanks to Sweetie Belle," said Applejack.

"If you hadn't screamed when you did," said Twilight Sparkle to Sweetie Belle, "we'd really be in trouble right now."

"You're a real hero, kido!" said Rainbow Dash as she gently ruffled Sweetie Belle's mane.

"I am?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Without a doubt," said Rarity.

"You're a hero, alright!" said Apple Bloom, while Scootaloo nodded in agreement.

Sweetie Belle gasped in surprise as a thought occurred to her. She then looked behind but frowned to see her flanks were still without a Cutie Mark.

"You don't need a Cutie Mark to be a hero," said Sora.

"I guess you're right," said Sweetie Belle, "but I still want one."

"Hey, we all do," said Scootaloo.

"And we won't stop until we get ours," said Apple Bloom.

"You betcha!" said Sweetie Belle. The three of them then raised their hoofs together and shouted as one, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS FOREVER!"

"So, what now?" Rainbow Dash asked, "do we try and find that bug thing and Chrysalis?"

"We still have that necromancer to find," said Guy.

"Why don't we all just go back to the farm to cool our heads a bit," said Applejack, "pull ourselves together."

"And celebrate!" said Pinkie Pie, "VICTORY PARTY! Last one to the farm gets no cider!"

"Over my dead body!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she took flight and zoomed back towards Sweet Apple Acres, while everyone else also started back towards the farm.

* * *

**…The Enemy Base…**

"NOOOOO!" wailed Chrysalis upon hearing of the recent battle, "so many of my children, dead! How could this have happened!?" she then glared at Obler'intor and Jachs'ocallf, "how could you allow my children to come to harm!? I was led to believe that you aliens were indestructible!"

"We never made such a claim!" said Obler'intor , "merely that we were more than a match for anything this world could throw at us!"

"But we were misinformed as to the heroes of this world," said Jachs'ocallf, "you, Queen Chrysalis, neglected to mention that there were humans here."

"Humans with Keyblades no less!" exclaimed the alien leader, "Keyblade Wielders, our ancient enemy whom exiled The Raztonians from our home! Whom denied us our divine right of conquest and destruction!"

"We were further led to believe that all the Keyblade Wielders were wiped out in a great war long ago!" said Jachs'ocallf, "we must seek better informants in future operations."

"To hell with your informants!" snapped Chrysalis, "what about my poor murdered children? How shall they be avenged!?"

"How shall one of our own be avenged, female?!" Obler'intor snapped, "a Raztonian has been slain in battle, a blasphemy that must be retaliated at all costs!"

"There aren't that many of us to begin with," said the alien second in command, "even less as the eons of our exile took its toll on our race. But while our numbers decreased, we grew stronger in mind, body and soul."

"Yet it was Vykkao'shatl'uq whom lead us to salvation," said Obler'intor, "it was his will and guidance that held the Raztonians together as the eons passed. It was his will that prepared us for our return and it shall be his will that shall lead to our final triumph!"

"Faith may move mountains," said Sombra as he sat nearby, his horn glowing slightly as he poured a cup of tea and sipped from it, "but power is the driving force of creation."

"I won't argue with that," said the alien leader, "but at this moment, we'll need more than faith and power. The plan is compromised; The Mane 6 and their allies know of our presence on this world!"

"No thanks to your incompetent adjutants," said Chrysalis.

"Kalok'karso is young and inexperienced," said Obler'intor, "he should have known better than to divulge so much information," he then glared at a nearby torture rack, where Kalok'karso , now in his humanoid form again, was being stretched, with two Changelings turning the gears on the rack and Djarlo watching gleefully. "Isn't that right?"

"I didn't mean to give so much away!" shouted Kalok'karso , "I was going to test the life draining process on those three disgustingly cute foals! How was I to know that their friends were spying on me?!"

"You should have checked for eavesdroppers, you fool!" snapped Jachs'ocallf, "now our enemies know we're here and our plan to drain the world of its life energy!"

"Not only that, they know of our alliance with the Changelings!" said the alien leader, "but you committed a most grievous sin; you exposed us to our ancient, hated enemy, The Keyblade Wielders!"

"I didn't let them know that we were old enemies!" said Kalok'karso, "nor did I tell them of Vykkao'shatl'uq."

"You managed to hold your proboscis on those facts, yes," said the alien second in command, "and you did hold back the fact that Sombra is alive."

"Oh, but I want Twilight Sparkle and her friends to know of my return," said Sombra, "I want them to tremble in fear, I want their nightmares to be haunted by my face, and I want them to wallow in despair as I come to render them asunder!"

"All in good time, my friend," said Chrysalis, "but we have a more important issue to resolve."

"That disgustingly sweet Unicorn," said Obler'intor, "her shriek is agony to Raztonians."

"As well as my children," said Chrysalis, "as well as disrupt our power of shape shifting." She closed her eyes, "I can only imagine the fiasco had Sweetie Belle been in Canterlot during my bid for domination. One scream at the right place and time and I would have been exposed."

"But you were exposed nonetheless," said Djarlo, "and you still lost, or am I mistaken?"

"I lost because I underestimated the bond of friendship between Twilight Sparkle and Mi Amore Cadenza, not to mention her love for Shining Armor. I had that brute of a Unicorn wrapped around my hooves like a wedding ring, my children had invaded and were securing Canterlot, victory was within my grasp!"

"And you still lost," said Sombra, "just as I did, all thanks to those wretched Ponies!"

"Well, now it's just one Pony we need to worry about," said Jachs'ocallf, "if our foes can harness Sweetie Belle's scream and turn it into a more effective weapon, then we're pretty much done for."

"We need time to adapt," said Obler'intor, "to discover a way to neutralize our vulnerability to the child's scream. Until then all aspects of the plan must cease and desist."

"No!" snapped Djarlo, "we're too close to the completion of the project! We cannot stop now when all is missing is the final component!"

"We will obtain the component, my friend," said Obler'intor, "but how can we complete the project when so much of our operations have been exposed?"

"It's only a matter of time before Celeistia and Luna are involved," said Chrysalis, "and soon it will be all but impossible for my children to be out in the open."

"None of us are safe in the open!" said Jachs'ocallf.

"That may not be so true," said Sombra, "while the Raztonians and Changelings are susceptible to the shriek of the young Unicorn, yet my powers aren't so affected."

"You plan to go out and collect energy we need?" the alien leader asked.

"I'd like to see you move about in a disguise," said Djarlo.

"I need no disguise," said Sombra, "nor do I need to handle this in person," his horn glowed darkly and from his shadow elongated, rising up from the floor and becoming three dimensional. Within seconds there was a shadow copy of Sombra standing next to the original. Shadow-Sombra then split in two and there were two copies, then four, then eight.

"You four," said Sombra to half of his shadow copies, "resume the draining of life energy, but be discrete. No further attention from our enemies must be gained!"

"We obey!" said the four Shadow-Sombras as they bowed and vanished.

"And you four," said Sombra to the remaining copies, "observe Twilight Sparkle and her friends. I want to know everything they know about the plan and more!"

"We obey," said the four Shadow-Sombras as they bowed and vanished.

"I can create as many shadow copies as needed," said Sombra, "they operate independently of my will but are completely obedient to my commands and summons. Until this new weakness is negated, they'll carry out the vital aspects of the plan."

"Fascinating," said Djarlo, "but not as fascinating as what our stretched friend has to say," he then looked at Kalok'karso, "tell me more about these other humans with the Keyblade Wielders, especially those incredibly voluptuous twins you saw."

**The End Of Chapter 3**

_Next chapter finds our heroes and allies divided by their missions, unaware that their true objectives are one and the same. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	5. Chapter 4: Divided Objectives

_Last time found Sora and the gang arriving at Sweet Apple Acres where they learn that The Cutie Mark Crusaders had been taken by villainous forces unknown. Tracking the abducted foals into The Ever Free Forest had our heroes and allies running into the E-Branch team. They then caught up with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, whom were about to be replaced by Changelings, but not before receiving some vital exposition from a longwinded Raztonian. One intense fight and a life-saving scream from Sweetie Belle later and the battle was won, yet the real conflict is just beginning. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

**Chapter 4: Divided Objectives**

"I must say, Mrs. Smith," said Guy after he and the others finished an outlandish feast at Sweet Apple Acres, "you and your family put on an outstanding spread."

"Oh, shucks," said Granny Smith modestly, "it weren't nothing."

"Nothing my eye," said Reina, "I never knew you could do so many things with apples."

"My sister and I are as good as any gourmet chef on our world," said Rita, "but we've never had or prepared anything as good as this."

"And your Dutch Apple Pie," said Yuki, "deserts are my culinary specialty. I must have your recipe."

"Sorry, that's a family secret," said Applejack, "ain't no one outside the family gets to know Granny Smith's super secret recipe book."

"Then where do I sign up to join the family?" Ranma asked in a satisfied tone, after which he let out a satisfied burp. "Oh, any more of those Apple Dumplings?"

"Incredible," said an impressed and mildly disturbed Malcolm, "utterly incredible. I've never seen anyone eat so much and still want more. Tell me, Saotome Ranma, are you in any way related to the Saiyan race?"

"Is that some weird group of people from The Magical Dimension?" Sora asked.

"They're a legendary race of warriors that supposedly went extinct centuries ago," said Malcolm, "utterly ruthless and violent to the core, the Saiyans cared for only three things; fighting, killing and destroying, and eating of course."

"Uh…as far as I know I'm 100% human," said Ranma.

"Considering all the craziness you've survived, you've got to be more than human," said Riku.

"No, he's human," said Rita, "after all that you've told me about yourself, Ranma, you've got to be human. No other species is capable of making such a damn fool of himself."

"Really?" Ranma asked irately, "and just how did I make a fool of myself?"

"Well, let's see," said Rita as she began counting on her fingers, "not only did you allow your moron of a father to rope you into multiple illegitimate engagements, most of them to girls whom you somehow managed to piss off in one way or another. You also attracted multiple rivals out for your head, and sometimes you got engaged to girls whom wanted you dead as well. And worst of all, you allowed yourself to be cursed."

"How'd you I'm cursed!?" Ranma exclaimed as he stood up from the table.

"He's cursed?" Twilight Sparkle asked in an intrigued and shocked tone.

"Oh, he's cursed alright," said Reina as she smiled mischievously, "and a dozy of a curse at that."

"Ooh, a dozy curse!" said an eager Pinkie Pie.

"But how do you know?" Rainbow Dash asked. She then took flight and hovered in front of Ranma, examining him right in his face, "he seems okay to me."

"Trust me, he's cursed," said Reina, "and if my senses are right, the curse is based on water."

"Let's find out just how cursed he is," said Rita as she also smiled mischievously as she picked up a glass of water.

"Don't you freaking dare!" snapped Sarah as she stood up, while Chrystal Star appeared in front of Ranma as if to shield him, "I mean it! Ranma has suffered enough from his curse as it is! We don't need you to make him any more miserable!"

"I was just curious," said Reina innocently.

"The number of cats who paid the ultimate price because of curiosity is appalling," said Cassie, "just let it go, you two."

"But we have to know," said Reina as she pouted, "otherwise it'll bug us for the rest of the mission."

"If we're preoccupied by this, we won't be able to fully give our all for the mission," said Rita, "and the fugitive necromancer will most likely get away because of it."

"And we already messed up once," said Reina, "we're in deep enough trouble with the boss as it is, so do you really want us to mess up again?"

"You won't mess up because you're going to forget all about bothering young Saotome here," said Guy. He then looked at Ranma, "we may have just met today, but a warrior recognizes a kindred warrior and forms a bond of respect."

"Respect is the one thing I never really got much of growing up," said Ranma, "thanks. But it's okay, I might as well get it over with before something happens." He then looked at the twins, "yes, I'm cursed, and it's all my stupid dad's fault. My life mostly sucked until I met Sora and the others. He, Kairi, Riku and Aiden helped solve a lot of my problems and things got better, and then things really got better when I met Sarah," he then gave her hand a loving squeeze, "but I still got this curse on me. So I might as well tell and show you what it's all about," he then looked at Twilight Sparkle and the other Ponies, "you too as well."

Ranma then reached for a glass of water, just as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo pushed in a rolling table loaded with tall mugs full of frothy brown liquid.

"Who's up for cider!?" Apple Bloom asked, just as the table hit a lose nail in the floor and stopped the table, causing the three foals to stumble and the mugs to be jostled about, while one mug was launched into the air and landed on Ranma's head, drenching him in ice cold cider.

"That better not be mine!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. She then looked at Ranma, whom upon contact with the cider had transformed into the red-headed, blue eyed and curvaceous Ranma-chan. At which, Rainbow Dash burst out into a hearty laugh that had her rolling about on the floor.

It wasn't long before the startled twins, Guy, Cassie, Yuki and other operatives at the table, also started laughing, while Twilight Sparkle, Spike Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy struggled to hold their laughter in. Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were fully laughing, though not as much as Rainbow Dash.

"That's right," said Ranma-chan in a mildly irate tone, "laugh it up, just get it out of your system already!"

"They shouldn't laugh at you!" said Sarah irately.

"I know!" said Cassie as she tried to contain her giggles but couldn't, "I can't help it, sorry!"

"Land sakes, you hairless monkeys!" exclaimed Granny Smith as she and Big Macintosh maintained stern faces, "it ain't right to be making fun of one of yer friends like this!" she then walked over to Ranma-chan and handed her a towel, "here, dry yerself off and we'll figure out how to turn you normal again."

"I just need a bit of hot water, that's all," said Ranma-chan as she accepted the towel.

"Oh, I can get that!" said Apple Bloom, "Come on, Crusaders! Let's see if delivering water is our special talent!" with that she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hurried back into the kitchen.

"If we can just get the rest of these goobers to stop laughing like idiots," said a still mad Sarah, "we'd be in pretty good shape."

"Okay, okay, we'll stop," said Cassie as she, the twins and the rest of the E-Branch team calmed down, while Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy calmed down as well. Only Rainbow Dash was still laughing.

"Okay, sorry for laughing at you," said Rita, "but we still have to know how you got cursed?"

"And how come you guys didn't laugh?" Reina asked Sarah, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess and Malcolm.

"We're used to it," said Tess, while Sarah, Sora, Riku, Kairi and Aiden nodded in agreement.

"I'm still getting used to it," said Malcolm, "but, having grown up with magic, I'm more open to the strange and bizarre."

"You want to know how I got like this?" Ranma-chan asked as she toweled herself off, "my stupid dad took me to China without knowing how to read Chinese!"

"They fell into the Cursed Springs of _Jyusenkyo_," said Sarah.

"Oh, _Jyusenkyo_," said Cassie in a serious tone, "that place has given E-Branch no end of trouble."

"We've dealt with all sorts of maniacs whom thought they could gain super powers by splashing themselves with water from those cursed springs," said Guy, "some of them were serious threats, others were just plain insane."

"What about the curse?" Sarah asked, while Ranma also looked hopeful, "is there a cure on your world?"

"Nope," said Yuki, "and believe me, we've tried to synthesize one."

"Oh," said Ranma-chan in a deflated tone.

"So, you're really a boy," said Reina, "but in this form, you're as real as any girl?"

"More or less," said Ranma-chan. She then gasped in surprise as Reina appeared behind her to fondle her more than ample bosom.

"Oh yeah, they're real," said Reina as she groped Ranma-chan, "though a bit smaller than sis and me."

"Get away from him, you bitch!" snapped Sarah. She then had Crystal Star grab Reina by the hair and threw her across the room. Reina managed to correct her fall and landed lightly on her feet before she crashed into the wall.

"Hey! Don't you throw my sister!" shouted Rita irately.

"Then kindly tell your sister not to molest my boyfriend!" said Sarah, "it's bad enough that Ranma had to deal with all sorts of lunatic perverts and psychotic sex offenders on his world. We don't need you two incestuous sluts making things worse!"

At that Rita glared at Sarah, "how do you know about me and my sister?"

"I've seen how you two look at each other," said Sarah, "believe me, I have nothing against alternative lifestyles. If you two are comfortable with that level of intimacy, good for you, but keep it to yourselves."

"And don't molest Ranma!" said Kairi as Sora and Malcolm decided to heat up some water of their own, "you won't believe all the crap he had to go through, both as a boy and a girl."

"There was this really stupid kendo user whom was obsessed with Ranma," Aiden, "Kuno wanted to kill Ranma and marry Ranma-chan. And don't get me started on that little old pervert who got his power from sexual harassment."

"Whatever happened to Happosai?" Sora asked as he held his Keyblade, a small fireball at the tip, beneath a glass beaker of water that Malcolm held suspended in midair.

"Last I heard from Ansem," said Riku, "he and Aqua busted Happosai out of New Hollow Bastion to cause mischief for Maleficent."

"He's out there, alright," said Kairi irately, "stealing women's undergarments and molesting girls from the shadows. We're going to have to deal with him someday."

"Call me when you do," said Ranma-chan. "I owe the old bastard a fist to the face, or two, or three, or ten." Malcolm then handed him the now hot water beaker, which Ranma-chan dumped onto her head. In an instant, he was Ranma again, "much better."

"Here's the hot water!" shouted Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came back in, with Sweetie Belle carrying a steaming kettle by its handle in her mouth. She then tripped on the same lose nail, causing the kettle to flip through the air, heading straight for Sarah and Ranma.

They ducked and the kettle landed next to the still laughing Rainbow Dash, causing her to yelp is surprise and mild pain as she was drenched in hot water. She then blinked in confusion, "what…what happened?"

This caused everyone in the room, human, Pony and dragon alike to laugh, even Rainbow Dash was laughing.

After a few minutes, during which the laughter died down and those wet were dried off and the table was cleared, our heroes and allies went outside to the front porch of the farmhouse where several chairs and couches had been summoned by Malcolm. Everyone sat down to the sound of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hammering at the lose nail.

"Okay, now that we're all fed and laughed out," said Sora, "what next?"

"Any luck finding a spell to track down the missing power?" Kairi asked.

"Not yet," said Twilight Sparkle, "I was kind of sidetracked in my research. And then I sensed that you were all in trouble."

"It was incredible!" said Spike, "Twilight had her face buried in her book when all of a sudden, she looked up and said that you were all in trouble. The next thing, we Winked over to Sweet Apple Acres and then into the Ever Free Forest. The rest, you guys know what happened after that."

"Okay, so we've still got to find the missing power," said Aiden.

"And our rogue necromancer is still on the lose," said Rita.

"Aren't we forgetting the more important issue here?" Sarah asked, "there's a horrible conspiracy out to destroy the world!"

"Chrysalis and her Changelings have teamed up with these really ugly but powerful aliens!" said Applejack.

"And such revolting creatures they are," said Rarity, "and then one of them had the audacity to bite me," she then shuddered with disgust at the memory, "I can still feel that creature's touch! Revolting!"

"Yes, that thing was gross," said Sarah, "and there's more of them out there."

"Not to mention a horde of Changelings and their queen mother," said Twilight Sparkle.

"She must really hate you, Twilight," said Fluttershy, "it's sad that Chrysalis is such a meanie."

"I wish she wasn't so hateful and downright evil," said Twilight Sparkle, "but this is the way it is. All we can do is figure out how to stop her and the aliens."

"We've got one thing going for us," said Rainbow Dash.

"Sweetie Belle," said Yuki, "somehow her scream pushes beyond the threshold of pain for the Changelings and Raztonians," she looked at Rarity, "if you and your sister don't mind, I'd like to make a few recordings of her screaming. If I can isolate the exact pitch, tone and other factors, I can turn that sound into a more effective weapon without further involving Sweetie Belle."

"By all means, make your recordings," said Rarity, "the less my dear sister and her friends have to do with this horrific crisis, the better."

"I heard that!" said an annoyed Sweetie Belle as she, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo walked out onto the porch, "we're not sitting this out!"

"Those bug things wanted to suck out our life energy," said Scootaloo, "no way we're gonna let all of you fight this without us!"

"Face it, Applejack," said Apple Bloom, "we're involved."

"It would be better if they were close by," said Kairi, "if only to keep an eye on them."

"Alright, alright," said Applejack reluctantly, "you three can come along."

"So long as you do as you're told and not get in the way," said Rarity.

"And don't do anything stupid," said Rainbow Dash, "like getting yourselves or anyone else killed!"

"Trust me, we'll behave and take orders like good little foals," said Scootaloo as she, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom smiled innocently.

"There's that taken care of," said Twilight Sparkle, "but how do we find out where Chrysalis and the aliens are?"

"No doubt they've gone to ground until they can figure out how to overcome their vulnerability against Sweetie Belle's scream," said Sarah.

"Who cares about a bunch of shape shifters and alien bugs?" one of the E-Branch operatives asked, a well muscled woman about 30 years old with tanned skin, dark brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a combat suit with an Israeli flag patch on her left arm, "Cyrus Simpkins is still on the lose!"

"That's our fugitive necromancer," said Cassie.

"And this," said Guy as he indicated the woman with the Israeli flag patch, "is Leah Rubenski, formerly of the Israeli Special Forces."

"_Shalom_," said Leah Rubenski to Sora and the others. "Now, can we please end this nonsense and go catch Simpkins?"

"What'd he do that's gotten you so agitated?" Aiden asked.

"He killed and mutilated a scientist to steal some highly classified and dangerous information," said Yuki, "and don't ask us to tell you any more, we can't."

"Why not?" Sora asked, "you told us all about Zerlina and the Wamphyri."

"That mission was on a completely different level of security," said Cassie, "this one has been labeled of the highest security clearance. Even we don't know all the details."

"We know enough to know that Simpkins must be stopped before he hands over the stolen information to his contacts," said Guy, "and to stop the real masterminds of this conspiracy."

"And who would that be?" Riku asked.

"We have no idea," said Rita, "and we won't know if we waste time on every minor crisis that comes along."

"'Minor crisis!?'" Sarah exclaimed, "the fate of a world is at state!"

"The fate of many worlds are at stake," said Guy, "I'm sorry, but we have to find Cyrus Simpkins."

"We have to find Chrysalis and the Raztonians!" exclaimed Twilight Sparkle.

"Can't we find both?" Aiden asked, "why do we have to pick and chose?"

"My thoughts exactly," said Ranma, "can't we all just get along?"

"We'll get along when they stop being selfish," said Sarah.

"You think we're being selfish?!" Reina asked, "takes one to know one! We don't need this crap," she then looked at her fellow E-Branch operatives, "we can find Simpkins all by ourselves!"

"And we can stop the Changelings and Raztonians without you!" said Rainbow Dash irately.

"What's it going to be, Sora?" Guy asked, "it's clear that all we can agree on is to disagree."

"You and your fellow Keyblade Wielders have to choose," said Cassie, "one mission or the other."

"Why do we have to choose?" Kairi asked, "we've got our own mission too, remember?"

"Why can't we do both?" Sora asked, "look, how about this: I'll go with Sarah and the Ponies to find and stop the Changelings and Raztonians, while Aiden can go with E-Branch and find the necromancer."

"Why'd you pick me to go with them?" Aiden asked, he then looked at the twins, "not that I don't mind going."

"Of course you don't mind," said both twins.

"I figured you'd want that," said Sora.

"If you're going after the Changelings and buggers, then so am I," said Malcolm.

"Me too," said Kairi.

"We'll stick with Aiden," said Riku.

"Someone has to keep him out of trouble," said Tess.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," said Aiden.

"Well, you have fun tracking down your fugitive," said Sarah, "assuming he's even in Equestria."

"He's here alright," said Yuki, "we wouldn't be here if he wasn't."

"Then have fun," said Sarah.

"I think you're being a little hard on them," said Ranma.

"Well you go chasing after that necromancer if you want!" snapped Sarah, "in fact, why don't you team up with those nymphonamiac twins while you're at it!?" with that she stomped off of the porch.

"What the hell?" Ranma asked, "what's her problem?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Kairi as she and everyone else saw Sara go sit under a nearby tree

"You should talk to her," said Aiden.

"Naw, I've tried to reason with girls when they're in a bad mood," said Ranma, "and got a lot of pain in return. No, I'll wait until she's calmed down and then we'll sit and talk about it," he then looked at Guy, "I'm ready to go hunting that necromancer."

"About time," said Rita as she held out her hand to shake Ranma's, but then frowned when she saw that Ranma was shaking hands with Guy.

"I wouldn't try to push his buttons," said Cassie to Rita, "he's had his messed with enough as it is."

"I wasn't going to mess with him," said Rita irately, "I was just being civil, that's all."

"Well, he's not having a good time right now, so let him be," said Cassie.

* * *

A few minutes later found Aiden, Tess, Riku and Ranma leaving with the E-Branch group, while Sora, Kairi and Malcolm stayed at the farmhouse with Twilight Sparkle and the Ponies.

"I'm going to talk with Sarah," said Kairi to Sora and Malcolm, "you two figure out how to find the enemy with Twilight and the others." With that she went over to talk with Sarah.

"What is going on with her?" Sora asked as he watched Kairi and Sarah talk.

"I have more than a few ideas and they're probably all wrong," said Malcolm.

"I'm sure she'll tell us when she's ready," said Twilight Sparkle.

"And if she takes too long, we'll make her talk," said Rainbow Dash, "I happen to know a certain filly whom can get under anyone's nerves."

"Guilty as charged," said Pinkie Pie.

Just then Spike began coughing as if he were a cat with a hairball. He then burped up a gout of green and purple flames that solidified into a roll of parchment tied with a ribbon.

"It's from Princess Celestia!" said Twilight Sparkle. Her horn glowed with magic as the parchment unrolled in front of her and she read the message, "she and Princess Luna know that Chrysalis is back and that she and the Changelings have teamed up with the Raztonians." She then smiled, "and I didn't even get a chance to write to them."

"But how did they know?" Malcolm asked.

"They're the rulers of all of Equestria," said Pinkie Pie, "they know."

"In any event, they'll be able to help us resolve this horrific crisis," said Rarity.

"Uh…not just yet, I'm afraid," said Twilight Sparkle as she read more of the message, "apparently word got out in Canterlot that the Changelings are back. There's mass panic in the city and it's taking nearly everything Celestia and Luna have to calm things down. They'll join us as soon as they can."

"Oh, well, at least they'll come eventually," said Rarity.

"Yeah, after we kick Chrysalis's tail for good!" said Rainbow Dash eagerly.

"Let's not forget about those alien bugs," said Applejack, "we got to squash them pests before they suck the life out of the world."

"Do we really have to squash them so much?" Fluttershy asked, "maybe we can try and talk with them."

"Oh for crying out loud!" said Rainbow Dash, "you heard what they said back in the forest! They suck the life out of entire worlds!"

"I've seen evil just as tenacious and vicious as the Raztonians," said Malcolm, "they can't be negotiated."

"Can't we even try before we decide to fight?" Fluttershy asked.

"They're not like the vampire fruit bats, Fluttershy," said Twilight Sparkle, "I'm afraid this is one fight that can't be resolved with words."

"I know," said Fluttershy in a disappointed tone, "but we can still try."

"You can try to talk to them as much as you want," said Malcolm, "but I doubt it'll do any good."

Just then Spike burped up another gout of flames that materialized into another roll of parchment.

"It's from Cadence and Shining Armor!" said Twilight Sparkle as she read the message, "they say The Crystal Empire knows about the Changelings and Raztonians and they'll come to help as soon as they can, but it'll be a while. Wow, word does travel fast in Equestria."

"Now all we got to do is figure out how to draw the enemy out and fight them until the Calvary comes," said Sora.

"Assuming we don't finish the fight first," said Kairi as she and Sarah walked back over.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked Sarah.

"I'm fine," said Sarah.

"She's fine so let it go," said Kairi. She then mouthed to Sora, 'we'll talk later.'

'Okay,' mouthed Sora.

* * *

**…The Enemy Base…**

"Okay, Sombra," said Obler'intor as he, Jachs'ocallf and Chrysalis stood around a newly crafted map of Equestria in the chamber, "what manner of malicious mischievous mayhem do you have for us?"

"I have nothing for you," said Sombra, "but, since your goals and my goals are one and the same, I do have a plan to draw out and destroy our enemies." His horn glowed and the map 'zoomed' in on Cloudsdale, the airborne Pegasus city.

"Behold, the home residence of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy," said Sombra, "two of the Mane 6."

"We know that," said Chrysalis, "what use is this information?"

"Indeed,' said Jachs'ocallf, "just what are you implying?"

"If you will be patient, I will explain," said Sombra. "it all comes down to choosing which target would best suit our purposes. Striking at Canterlot at this moment would only draw the ire of not only the Pegasus Guard, but also bring Celestia and Luna into the fray. At this time we are unable to properly deal with them, so Canterlot can wait.

"Ponyville would make a more fitting target; plenty of innocent civilians to slaughter and far enough from Canterlot that help would be too late in coming. Yet my forces would be at a disadvantage."

"And they'd have the advantage in Cloudsdale?" Jachs'ocallf asked.

"Earth Ponies and Unicorns are unable to walk among the airborne city without special magics," said Sombra, "while my forces would be purely aerial in their design and method of attack." His horn then glowed and from his shadow emerged a creature that resembled a chimera; the body and head of a lion, a second head of a goat, a tail that ended in a serpent's head, but also the wings of a vulture, a second tail like an electric eel, while a third set of limbs ended in crab claws.

"Behold, my sextet chimera Shadow Beast!" said Sombra.

"An impressive abomination," said Chrysalis, "wherever do you get your ideas?"

"I have quite the diabolical imagination," said Sombra as he smiled viciously.

"And you believe this creature can prove to be a match for the Mane 6 and their human allies?" Obler'intor asked.

"This one, no," said Sombra, "it is just the forerunner of a much larger force."

"Okay, you've lost me," said Jachs'ocallf.

"For an advanced race, you Raztonians are severely lacking in imagination," said Sombra, "the first chimerical Shadow Beast shall rampage through Cloudsdale. As soon as she hears that her beloved home town is being ravaged by a monster, Rainbow Dash will surely fly to the rescue, taking Twilight Sparkle and the others, as well as their human allies, with them. Once the are fully engaged in fighting, I shall unleash even more Shadow Beasts that will overwhelm and destroy the Mane 6 and their human allies!" He then looked at Chrystalis and the aliens, "what do you think?"

"I actually like it," said Obler'intor, "crude and somewhat flawed, but doable."

"The only flaw I see is that I will not be there in person to see the look of despair in Twilight Sparkle's eyes as she sees her friends die around her," said Chrysalis.

"But we will see it," said Sombra. His horn glowed and a live image of Cloudsdale and its Pegasus inhabitants appeared above the map table.

"We will see the plan unfold in all its glory," said Sombra.

"Nice, very nice," said Djarlo as he walked into the room, "if you enjoy voyeurism."

"We can't risk fighting until we overcome our recently discovered weakness!" said Jachs'ocallf, "and where have you been?"

"Talking with Kalok'karso," said Djarlo, "he had such an interesting tale to tell about the humans, the ones not wielding Keyblades that is."

"Why are you so interested in these particular humans?" Chrysalis asked, "one human is as insignificant as the next."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, my lovely shape shifting lady," said Djarlo, "all humans are unique. I myself am more unique than others, but this particular group of humans have two extraordinarily unique specimens that I find most intriguing."

"Those twin whom so easily wield fire," said Obler'intor.

"They're reasonably attractive," said Jachs'ocallf, "for humans that is."

"They're not human," said Djarlo, "not completely that is. They and I have history, though they are unaware of it."

"And you hope to reacquaint yourself with them," said Sombra.

"Indeed," said Djarlo, "now, if you'll excuse me, I've my own plan to plan."

"You're not going to watch the chaos and destruction?" Chrysalis asked, "and speaking of which," she looked at Sombra, "whenever you're ready."

"The time is now," said Sombra. He then looked at the Chimera Shadow Beast, "go! Destroy Cloudsdale!"

"I obey!" hissed the shadow creature as it faded out of the room. A few seconds later the Chimera Shadow Beast appeared in Cloudsdale and began running amuck, wrecking buildings with its claw slashes and bursts of fire from its many heads, while sending the Pegasus' of the city into pandemonium.

"Yes! Glorious chaos and devastation!" said Chrysalis as she and the others watched the unfolding catastrophe in the aerial city.

"Enjoy your little peep show," said Djarlo in an offhand tone, "I've got my own plots to implement."

"You're actually not going to watch this?" Jachs'ocallf asked as one of the Changelings brought over a large bowl of popcorn, "it's just getting started."

"The real show won't start until the Mane 6 and their human allies arrive," said Sombra, "then they shall know terror and despair."

"You won't get them all," said Djarlo, "not all of the Keyblade Wielders that is."

"What are you talking about?" Obler'intor asked.

"I have it on good authority that half of the humans allied with the Mane 6 and half the Keyblade Wielders have gone off on a separate quest," said Djarlo, "and I seek to make their quest as…interesting, as I can."

"And how do you know that our enemies are divided?" Chrysalis asked in a suspicious tone.

"I have my sources," said Djarlo as he exited the room, smiling madly all the way.

"That…creature…is utterly insane," said Obler'intor.

"He is," said Sombra, "but he is useful to our cause."

"I still don't trust him," said Jachs'ocallf.

"Neither do I," said Chrysalis, "but until he is no longer necessary, we must suffer his presence."

"I look forward to the moment when we can cast the degenerate aside," said Obler'intor as he and the others watched the chaos in Cloudsdale.

* * *

**…Sweet Apple Acres…**

"Okay, we'll divide the world into search grids and take each section one at a time," said Twilight Sparkle, "the enemy has got to be out there somewhere, so a careful, methodical search is bound to locate them."

"Yeah, in about ten or twelve years," said an impatient Rainbow Dash, "look, you can already cross Ponyville off the list."

"They're not here on the farm, that's for sure," said Applejack.

"They could still be in The Ever Free Forest," said Spike, "that place is huge!"

"For all we know they could have a secret underground lair beneath Canterlot," said Pinkie Pie.

"Oh my stars, I hope not!" said Rarity.

"It'll still take too long to find those creeps!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, I'm open to suggestions," said Twilight Sparkle.

"You know," said Malcolm, "we have a whole starship full of sensors and scanners that can cover an entire world in a fraction of the time."

"That's right!" said Sora, "The Intrepid Heart, Sidney! We can ask her to keep an eye out for the enemy."

"And keep an eye on Ranma," said Sarah, "I shouldn't have yelled at him. I shouldn't have let those hussies get under my skin."

"They were just teasing," said Kairi, "thought I agree that they should have been a bit more tactful. It's a shame that we couldn't agree to fully work together."

"I just want to know more about their mission," said Sora, "what is it that E-Branch knows that they don't want us to know?"

"Whatever it is," said Malcolm, "it's dangerous enough that they don't want anyone to know."

Just then everyone heard someone shouting, "RAINBOW DASH!" followed by a loud rushing noise from above and a crash.

"Now what?" Applejack asked as she and the others rushed around the far side of the farmhouse to see a small crater had been made by a Pegasus whom had just made an emergency landing.

"My goodness!" said Fluttershy, "are…are you alright?"

The Pegasus extracted herself from the crater. She had a light turquoise coat, a mane and tail in different shades of amber and dark amber eyes. Her Cutie Mark was that of a white lightning bolt with three stars around it.

"Eh, I've had worse landings," said the Pegasus in an offhanded tone. She then looked at Rainbow Dash, "long time no see, wingmate."

"Lightning Dust!" said Rainbow Dash happily as she and the Pegasus, Lightning Dust, both took flight and hovered around each other, "how's it going? You still too reckless for The Wonderbolts?"

"I've learned to be more careful and respectful," said Lightning Dust, "you get any faster?"

"Wanna find out?" Rainbow Dash asked eagerly.

"I'd love to," said Lightning Dust in a serious tone, "but that's not why I'm here. Cloudsdale is being mauled by a…by a…"

"By a what?!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, "what's going on, Lightning Dust?"

"It kinda looks like a Chimera but with wings an a whole lot of more stuff on it," said Lightning Dust, "it's tearing the city apart and no one seems to be able to stop it. I tried to fight that thing but it nearly burned me alive!" she then showed Rainbow Dash a few burned feathers on her wings.

"Where did this Chimera come from?" Twilight Sparkle asked as she flew up to the two Pegasus's.

"Well, it's not exactly a Chimera," said Lightning Dust, "it's all shadowy and not all there. I tired to knock it out of the sky but I flew right through it. And then it tried to BBQ me."

"Shadowy?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "this is all too suspicious."

"You think Chrysalis and the Raztonians are behind it?" Kairi asked from down on the ground.

"I don't know," said Twilight Sparkle, "but I'm not going to let some strange monster terrorize anyone!"

"Uh, Twilight," said Rarity, "far from me to be a wet blanket against your zeal, but what of the rest of us?"

"We'll need that spell of yours if we're going to Cloudsdale," said Applejack, while Pinkie Pie and Spike nodded in agreement, "and Sora, Kairi and Malcolm'll need it too."

"We have our own means of flying," said Sora. He then felt his pockets, "wait…oh no! Where is it!?"

"Where's what?" Malcolm asked.

"The Pixy Dust that Tink gave us a while back!" said Sora, "there's plenty left but…" he checked his pockets again, "but I can't remember where I put it!"

"Did you leave it at home?" Kairi asked, "or on Radiant Garden?"

"I can't remember!" said Sora, "I…oh no! What if I dropped it on a world we visited?!"

"It could be anywhere!" said Kairi, "at Hogwarts, in that other New York City, at Yubaba's bathhouse…"

Just then Sora's cell phone rang, "hello?" he asked.

"I had a nagging feeling that you were in a bit of a bind, Sora," said Sidney on the other end of the call, "you're looking for something important, right?"

"How'd you know that, Sidney?" Sora asked.

"Call it cyber woman's intuition," said Sidney, "now, is my hunch correct that you're looking for that bag of Pixy Dust?" just then said bag of Pixy Dust was transported into Sora's free hand.

"How'd she know?" Kairi asked. She then frowned irately, "is she spying on us!?" she then grabbed Sora's phone and shouted into it, "Are you spying on us, Sidney!?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it spying," said Sarah, "more like keeping an eye on my favorite corporeal beings."

"Well, thanks, Sidney," said Sora, "oh, can you also do a site to site transport for all of us?"

"For four humans, seven Ponies and one dragon? Easy as Pi," said Sidney, "and just for you lot, I'll even beam up young Sweetie Belle and her friends and make a recording of her scream."

"How'd you know we wanted to do that?" Malcolm asked. "Oh, right, you're spying on us."

"Just being intuitive," said Sidney, "I just need a moment to double check my calculations and to give you lot a chance to get ready."

"We'll be standing by, over and out," said Sora. He then disconnected the call and put his phone away.

"Just what pray tell are you planning?" Rarity asked.

"And what's with this weird dust you got?" Rainbow Dash as she eyed the bag of Pixy Dust suspiciously.

"Something that'll give us an even playing field in the air," said Kairi as Sora took some of the dust and sprinkled it on himself, then Kairi and Malcolm and then on Sarah. A few happy thoughts later and they were hovering in the air with Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle.

"Holy oats and apples!" exclaimed an astonished Applejack as she and the other Ponies looked on at the four flying humans.

"This has got to be the coolest thing I've ever done!" said Sarah as she did a midair loop, "I just wish Ranma was here to experience it."

"He did once," said Sora, "a while back, but I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to fly again!"

"Oh! Do me! Do me!" shouted Pinkie Pie as she bounced up and down with unbridled excitement, "I wanna fly! I wanna fly!"

"Same here!" said Applejack eagerly, while Spike, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle squirmed with anticipation.

"There's plenty for everyone," said Sora, "but I'll save some for Apple Bloom and her friends for later."

"That's right, you're going up to our ship in orbit," said Kairi.

"A real spaceship?" Apple Bloom asked, "awesome!" while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.

"Okay, who's first for the Pixy Dust?" Sora asked.

"Uh, none for me, thank you," said Rarity in a slightly nervous tone, "I had a rather unpleasant experience with flying."

"That's because you had Twilight make you a pair of wings that burned up when you got to close to the sun," said Applejack, "this won't be anything like that."

"We have a volunteer!" said Malcolm while Sora threw a pinch of Pixy Dust at Applejack, hitting her right in the face.

"Hey! Wait till I'm ready!" said Applejack as she tried to clear some of the dust from her eyes, "okay, what do I do now?"

"Just think happy thoughts," said Kairi.

"Happy thoughts, okay," said Applejack in a slightly uncertain tone. She closed her eyes in concentration, then smiled and laughed at a funny memory, then cried out in surprise as she found herself hovering several feet off the ground.

"Way to go, big sis!" cheered Apple Bloom.

"What do I do?" Applejack asked in a mildly afraid tone as she wound up hovering on her back, her legs kicking in the air, "how do I do this?"

"Just let your heart be your guide!" said Sarah as she flew over and, with help from Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle, righted Applejack and within seconds, the down to earth Pony was flying as if she had been doing it for years.

Letting out a woop of delight, Applejack flew alongside Rainbow Dash, "now this is living!"

"You said it!" said Spike, whom had also been pelted in the face with Pixy Dust and was now soaring beside Twilight Sparkle.

"Me next! Me next!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, whom got her face full of Pixy Dust and within half a second, was flying circles around everyone in the air.

"Come on up, Rarity!" said Spike, "the air's fine!"

"I'll stay grounded, if you don't mind," said Rarity.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Lighting Dust asked Rainbow Dash in a mischievous tone.

"Oh yeah," said Rainbow Dash in an equally mischievous tone. With that the two Pegasus Ponies swooped down, grabbed Rarity and lifted her into the air.

"What are you doing!?" exclaimed Rarity as she was suspended by her forelegs by Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, "put me down this instant!"

"Let her have it, Sora!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"Roger!" said Sora as he threw a pinch of Pixy Dust at Rarity, hitting her in the face and causing her to cough irately.

"Of all the nerve!" snapped Rarity as she pawed her face to clear the dust from her eyes, "I have never been so humiliated in all my life!"

"Oh, I can name a few more humiliating moments," said Rainbow Dash.

"Remember that time when Discord made us all act all mean and selfish and stuff?" Pinkie Pie asked, "and make you think that this really big rock was a huge diamond that you named Tom?"

"I thought we were to never speak of that again!" snapped Rarity.

"Just think happy thoughts, Rarity," said Twilight Sparkle.

"You'll feel much better, trust me," said Fluttershy.

"How can I think happy thoughts when I'm being suspended in the air against my will!?" exclaimed Rarity.

"Just remember how much fun we had at The Sisterhood Social!" called Sweetie Belle from below.

"The Sisterhood Social?" Rarity asked in a much calmer tone. She then smiled as she remembered, "yes, that was a rather pleasant and enjoyable day."

"Today's about to get a whole lot better," said Twilight Sparkle.

Rarity blinked and looked around, realizing that Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust were several yards away from her and she was freely hovering by herself.

"Oh, my stars!" said a surprised and delighted Rarity as she began flying around, "this…this is wonderful! How could I ever find fault in this fabulous feeling!?"

"Yeah, it's a mystery," said Rainbow Dash.

Just then Sora's phone rang again, "hello?"

"I'm ready whenever you are," said Sidney.

"We're ready here," said Kairi, while Malcolm, Sarah and Twilight Sparkle nodded in agreement.

"Acknowledged," said Sidney, "Transport in progress."

"Next stop, Cloudsdale!" shouted Rainbow Dash. A few seconds later found Sora, Kairi, Malcolm, Sarah, Twilight Sparkle and the other Ponies, minus Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, transported to the airborne city of Pegasus's, right in the middle of the unfolding chaos.

"Good grief!" said Malcolm as he and the others narrowly avoided colliding with a flock of panicking Pegasus's, while all around them more Pegasus's flew in terror and cloud buildings burned.

"There's the problem!" said Sarah as she pointed at the Chimera Shadow Beast as it set fire to another cloud building.

"How can clouds burn?" Sora asked.

"Dark magic, obviously," said Malcolm as he summoned his Keyblade and flew straight at the creature. The Chimera Shadow Beast saw Malcolm coming and spewed flames from all its heads at him. Malcolm cast a shield spell with his Keyblade, then retaliated with a blast of magic, but the blast passed through the creature as if it were made of nothing.

"I told you that thing was nuts!" said Lightning Dust, only to dodge a gout of flames.

"We'll try this then!" shouted Sora as he and Kairi flew closer to the creature and delivered a double Keyblade throw. Their Keyblades passing through the Chimera Shadow beast but this time achieved a noticeable effect in the form of the creature grunting in pain and stumbling in midair.

"So, we can hurt it!" said Malcolm.

"Don't hurt it!" said Fluttershy, "for all we know, it's probably sick and needs our help!" she was then shoved aside by Rainbow Dash to avoid a fireball.

"Does that thing look like it needs our help?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight Sparkle flew in close and delivered a blast of magic from her horn. This time the effect was more pronounce as the creature roared in pain and frustration. At the same time, part of the creature dissolved where Twilight's attack hit it.

"It doesn't like positive magic!" said Kairi.

"More likely positive energy!" said Malcolm as he threw his Keyblade at the Chimera Shadow Beast.

"Then let's give it a positive charge it'll never forget!" said Sarah as she sent Crystal Star at the creature. The shining white Stand then delivered a fury of punches and kicks to the Chimera Shadow Beast, each blow connecting and dealing massive amounts of damage, while more and more of the creature's shadowy body dissolved.

"We've got it on the ropes!" said Sarah as she directed Crystal Star to kick the Chimera Shadow Beast in the head, dealing more damage.

"Then let's finish it!" said Sora. He, Kairi and Malcolm readied their Keyblades to throw, while Twilight Sparkle used her magic to charge the Keyblades with positive energy. They threw their Keyblades at the Chimera Shadow Beast, just as Crystal Star reared back for a final punch. All attacks hit the creature simultaneously with enough force and energy to cause it to self destruct, dissolving into nothing within seconds after the quadruple impact.

"And that's that," said Sora as he, Kairi and Malcolm caught their Keyblades.

"Thank goodness," said Fluttershy as she, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie helped several frightened Pegasus's calm down.

"Aw, that thing wasn't so tough," said Rainbow Dash.

"You should have been here when it first attacked," said Lightning Dust.

"I wish you both were here when it first showed up," said a Pegasus Pony wearing an azure blue full body uniform with yellow lightning marks and black framed goggles. She took off her goggles, revealing brilliant orange eyes and a light gold coat, while her mane and tail were light orange and amber.

"Captain Spitfire, ma'am!" said both Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust as they both saluted.

"At ease, Cadet Rainbow Dash," said Spitfire, she then looked at Lightning Dust, "I'm glad to see that you've learned to be more responsible and less reckless."

"I'm ready to try again if you're willing to give me another chance, ma'am," said Lightning Dust.

"We'll talk later," said Spitfire. She then looked at Rainbow Dash, "aren't you going to introduce me to your weird friends from another world?"

"Sora, Kairi, Malcolm, Sarah," said Rainbow Dash, "this is Spitfire, leader of The Wonderbolts, the best flyers in all of Equestria."

"Nice to meet you," said Kairi as she shook Spitfire's hoof.

* * *

…**The Enemy Lair…**

"It seems that our foes have taken the bait," said Jachs'ocallf as he, Obler'intor, Sombra and Chrysalis watched Rainbow Dash introduce Spitfire to Sora, Kairi, Malcolm and Sarah.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," said Chrysalis in an annoyed tone. She then glared at Sombra, "it is also obvious that your precious Shadow Beasts aren't as powerful as you believe them to be."

"That was just one creature," said Obler'intor, "a lure to draw the Mane 6 up to Cloudsdale where they and their human allies can be destroyed."

"Indeed," said Sombra, "this was only the first phase of my plan. And now," he then smiled viciously as his horn glowed, while more and more horrific Shadow Beasts emerged from his shadow and teleported out of the room, "and now…phase two!"

* * *

…**Cloudsdale…**

Without warning, the skies around the aerial city were swarming with Shadow Beasts that began terrorizing the already traumatized Pegasus's.

"Oh my god! Where'd they come from!?" Sarah exclaimed as she ducked a group of flying baboons, then dodged a fireball from a winged python.

"Same place as that chimera creature!" said Malcolm as he and the others took cover behind a wrecked cloud building as more and more Shadow Beasts materialized in the area and wrecked more havoc on Cloudsdale and its people.

"But who sent them!?" Kairi asked, "and why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Malcolm asked, "they're here to destroy us!"

As if on cue, the throngs of Shadow Beasts began converging on Sora, Kairi, Malcolm, Sarah, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy.

"That's a lot of monsters," said a Rainbow Dash in a subdued voice.

"We'll never beat them all," said Sarah, "not with all these innocents to protect."

"Spitfire!" said Twilight Sparkle, "you and the rest of the Wonderbolts start evacuating the Pegasus's to the ground. We'll hold the monsters off!"

"I can't do that!" said Spitfire, "I won't abandon you to fight these things alone!"

"You can and you will!" said Twilight Sparkle in an stern tone, "I'm ordering you to evacuate Cloudsdale!"

At that Spitfire wanted to argue, but then she saluted, "yes, Princess Twilight Sparkle," she then looked at Lightning Dust, "you wanted another chance? Well, you got it! Now start evacuating, Cadet!"

"Yes, ma'am!" said Lightning Dust as she saluted eagerly, then flew off to get as many Pegasus Ponies out of harms way.

"You'd better win, Cadet Rainbow Dash," said Spitfire as she placed her goggles over her eyes again, "you're a great flyer, I hate to lose you."

"What, me die?" Rainbow Dash asked, "never happen!"

"Make sure it doesn't happen," said Spitfire as she flew off to help with the evacuation.

By now nearly all of the Shadow Beasts had taken positions around our heroes and allies, surrounding them in a sphere of living shadows.

"Any chance we can bust through these creeps?" Applejack asked.

"They'd swarm on us the moment we try to break out," said Malcolm, "they've got us trapped and can do away with us as they please."

"Well, they're certainly taking their sweet time about it," said Rarity.

"Yeah, what give?" Pinkie Pie asked. She then bounced in the air to get the attention of the Shadow Beasts, "hey! What's taking so long! We're right here so come get us!" she was then tackled by Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Rarity exclaimed, "or do you have a death wish?!"

"Nope, I'm just eager to beat these things," said Pinkie Pie.

"Well, your taunt wasn't every successful," said Malcolm.

"They're just sitting there around us," said Kairi as she and the others looked at the Shadow Beasts, hovering in a sphere around our heroes and allies, "waiting. But for what?"

* * *

…**The Enemy Lair…**

"Yes, what are you waiting for?" Chrysalis asked as she, Sombra, Obler'intor and Jachs'ocallf watched the unfolding drama in Cloudsdale.

"For the right moment to reveal myself," said Sombra, "to see the look of despair on the faces of the Mane 6, especially Twilight Sparkle. And that time is now."

"About time," said Jachs'ocallf.

"That was so funny I forgot to laugh," said Obler'intor dryly.

* * *

…**Cloudsdale…**

Suddenly, a huge pair of scarlet and green eyes surrounded by a black mass appeared before the Keyblade Wielders and Ponies.

"Oh no," said Twilight Sparkle in a terrified voice, "it can't be! We destroyed him!"

"You are mistaken, Twilight Sparkle!" said the disembodied voice of the dark unicorn sorcerer, "I, King Sombra, cannot be destroyed!"

"You're responsible for the destruction wrought against Cloudsdale!" said Rarity in an accusing tone.

"Of course, I should have known!" said Twilight Sparkle, "shadows are Sombra's specialty."

"Indeed," said Sombra, "as well as other aspects of the dark side. Trickery is one of my more subtle talents and you fell for my trap like lambs to the slaughter!"

"So you wrecked my home town just to bring us here?!" Rainbow Dash asked, "are you nuts? What am I saying? Of course you're nuts!"

"No, I am not mad," said Sombra, "lunatics lose. I've won, or rather, I will win after you and your human allies are dead. And then, Twilight Sparkle, I shall pay a little visit to your brother and sister-in-law!"

"You leave Shining Armor and Cadence alone!" shouted Twilight Sparkle. She then sent a bolt of her magic at the eyes of Sombra, but the bolt passed through the image harmlessly.

"Did I not say that trickery is one of my talents?" Sombra asked, "you cannot harm me! Yes, I shall visit Shining Armor and Mi Amore Cadenza, upon which I shall crucify them with the shattered remains of The Crystal Heart as nails, and I'd rather not torment you with what I plan to do to the Crystal Ponies and then the rest of Equestria, I'd be a waste of good suffering! So farewell, Twilight Sparkle, may you, your friends and allies suffer a quick and relatively painless death, I have other activities I wish to expend my energies upon." With that the eyes vanished.

"What'd he mean by that?" Applejack asked, only for the throngs of Shadow Beasts to charge towards Sora and the others.

But then, just as the first ranks of Shadow Beasts were about to attack, several bolts of lightning shot down from above into the creatures, destroying some, wounding others and forcing the rest to scatter as more lightning rained down, leaving our heroes and allies unharmed.

"Now what?" Sora asked, "where's this lightning coming from?"

"Darned if I know," said Malcolm.

"Oh my gosh!" said a surprised and disgusted Rainbow Dash as she looked up. Sora and the others also looked up to see, atop a dark gray cloud, was a Pegasus Pony with a light sapphire bluish gray coat, a light blond mane and pale yellow eyes that were crossed awkwardly. Her Cuite Mark was that of several bubbles.

"Derpy Hooves?!" Twilight Sparkle asked in an astonished tone as the Pegasus, Derpy, bounced on the storm cloud, sending down more bolts of lightning at the Shadow Beasts.

"Derpy! What are you doing!?" exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she flew up to the crossed-eyed Pegasus on the storm cloud.

"Huh? Oh, hi, Rainbow Dash," said Derpy as she stopped bouncing, "I was just discharging this storm cloud before it could hurt anyone. You want me to stop?"

"No! Keep going!" said Rainbow Dash, "keep doing exactly what you're doing!"

"Huh? Oh, okay," said Derpy as she started bouncing on the cloud again, sending down more lightning bolts.

"Nice going, Derpy!" shouted Twilight Sparkle as she, Sora, Kairi, Malcolm and Sarah fought and destroyed several Shadow Beasts that were disoriented by the lighting storm.

* * *

…**The Enemy Base…**

"Oh that miserable, cross-eyed featherbrain!" spat Sombra as he and the others watched the turning tide of the battle, "she ruined my plan!"

"Yes, she has made a rather electric mess of the situation," said Jachs'ocallf.

"Again, I forgot to laugh," said Obler'intor.

"What do you plan to do now?" Chrysalis asked.

"I'm going to tear those Ponies and humans apart!" exclaimed Sombra, "that's what I'm going to do!"

* * *

…**Cloudsdale…**

"Now what are they doing?" Applejack asked as the scattered Shadow Beasts began to come together again. The creatures were clustering together, merging into each other to become one pulsating mass of shadows.

"I think we're going to need a bigger thundercloud," said Fluttershy timidly.

"Uh, sorry," said Derpy as she awkwardly hovered next to Rainbow Dash, her storm cloud fully discharged and dissipating, "I'm all out."

"And not another thundercloud in sight," said Twilight Sparkle.

By now the mass of shadows had condensed and taken on the form of a sasquatch, only two-hundred feet tall and twice as ugly as a real sasquatch.

"Oh great, we're gonna be murdered by Bigfoot!" said Malcolm as the Sasquatch Shadow Beast closed in on our heroes.

"No," said Sarah defiantly, "we're not!" she then took out the heart-shaped locket from around her neck. "Hey! Sombra!" she shouted, "you want to terrorize this world?! You've got to go through me first!"

"You're using _that _now?" Kairi asked.

"Might as well," said Sarah, "I'm ending this mess before anyone else gets hurt! Sombra! Time to taste the rainbow!" with that she opened the locket, unleashing The Rainbow of Light. The multi-colored stream of goodness and light shot towards the Sasquatch Shadow Beast, encircling and constricting around the creature like a rope. Within seconds, the creature had been crushed into a dissipating mass of shadows that vanished into nothing.

"And that's that," said Sarah as The Rainbow of Light returned to the locket.

"You sure it was wise to tip your hand like that?" Kairi asked, "you really wanted the enemy to know you've got such a powerful magic?"

"It'll make him think twice before he does anything else," said Sarah, "at least I hope so!"

"I hope so too," said Twilight Sparkle as she and the others looked at the devastated Cloudsdale.

* * *

**...The Enemy Lair...**

"The Rainbow of Light!? It still exists!?" exclaimed Sombra, "I thought it was lost forever!"

"Apparently it was found," said Chrysalis, "by that slip of a girl no less!"

"Our enemies keep surprising us more and more," said Obler'intor, "my friends, we must show further caution before we try to further our plans."

"We may not get the chance," said Jachs'ocallf after hearing a message from a lesser Raztonian, "our anti-espionage wards have detected someone attempting to locate this facility. Countermeasures were employed but to no avail. The enemy now knows were we are."

"They'll be coming soon," said Obler'intor.

"Then we had best get ready," said Sombra, "we have weaknesses to overcome and a proper reception to prepare."

"That we do," said Chrysalis, "that we do."

* * *

…**Cloudsdale…**

"Good work, everypony," said Spitfire as Lightning Dust and the other blue-uniformed Wonderbolts, lead the still shaken citizens of Cloudsdale back to their wrecked but repairable town, "thanks to you, only a handful of Pegasus Ponies were wounded. Cloudsdale can be rebuilt, but its people cannot be replaced."

"Glad to have been of help," said Kairi.

"Yeah, any chance to stick it to the darkness," said Sora.

"We solved one crisis," said Malcolm, "but I'm afraid things have just gotten worse."

"First the Raztonians and Changelings," said Twilight Sparkle, "and now Sombra is back. This can't be a coincidence."

"You mean Sombra and Chrysalis are working together?" Pinkie Pie asked, "and that they've formed a dark triple alliance with the Raztonians to destroy Equestira and remake it into a living nightmare?!"

"Uh…something like that," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Makes you wonder just how big this conspiracy is," said Malcolm.

"Who else could be involved?" Sarah asked, "Tirnac is still in hiding, while no one has heard from The Witches of the Volcano of Gloom, they've been missing for decades."

"Maybe Discord is up to no good again," said Rainbow Dash irately.

"Oh, it can't be Discord," said Fluttershy, "he'd never do anything this horrible."

"Are you sure he wouldn't?" Applejack asked, "this is Discord we're talkin' bout."

"Discord may be chaotic and unpredictable," said Twilight Sparkle, "but this isn't his style, it's too straight forward and orderly. No, Discord isn't involved."

"But someone else is," said Sarah in a slightly uncomfortable tone, "ever since we beamed down at Ponyville, I've had this nagging sensation in the back of my mind. I thought it was just excitement at exploring more of the world and meeting new friends, but as time went on, the feeling became more pronounced and defined. It's not excitement, it's fear."

"What is it?" Kairi asked, "what's scaring you so much?"

"I don't know," said Sarah, "but whatever it is, it's something terrible."

Just then Sora's phone rang, "hello?" he asked as he answered the call.

"I thought you'd want to know that while you lot were fighting those living shadows," said Sidney on the other end of the call, "not only did I make the recording of Sweetie Belle's scream, I also locked in on the magical energy signature that was controlling the creatures."

"You homed in on Sombra?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Right back to its source," said Sidney, "I'm sending you the coordinates right now."

Sora's phone then projected a holographic map of Equestria. Far to the south and east of Ponyville was a vast area devoid of vegetation and within that area lay a blinking red dot.

"That's the Badlands," said Applejack, "Past the Appleloosa and beyond the Macintosh Hills."

"That place is huge," said Rainbow Dash, "bigger than the San Palomino Desert."

"And even less water," said Twilight Sparkle, "I've read accounts of explorers whom went into The Badlands without enough water. Most never came back."

"If that's where Sombra, Chrysalis and The Raztonians are," said Malcolm, "they couldn't have picked a more inhospitable land to host their base."

"Then we'd better go knock on the door," said Sora.

"You'd better do it quick," said Sidney, "for more reasons than one."

"Why?" Kairi asked.

"First of all," said Sidney, "the enemy had set up some pretty sophisticated anti-espionage wards. I worked past them but my probing were detected. No doubt they're aware that we're aware of their location and they'll be readying a proper reception for you lot."

"What's the second reason?" Sora asked.

"Those three foals are running rampant through my body!" exclaimed Sidney, "they're making a mess in the kitchen! I told them not to but they wouldn't listen, saying something about being space chefs or some other nonsense."

"That would be a rather unique talent to qualify for Cutie Marks," said Rarity.

"Just get them out of me!" said Sidney, "and do I have to remind you lot that you have to clean up any mess made onboard The Intrepid Heart!?"

"We know, Sidney," said Kairi, "we know. We'll be up to clean up in a bit."

"We'd better call Riku and the others," said Sora, "whatever grief Cassie, Guy and the others from E-Branch have with stopping Chrysalis, Sombra and the Raztonians, it'll have to wait."

"If this is turning out to be as horrific as I feel it is," said Sarah, "we're going to need all the help we can get."

**The End Of Chapter 4.**

_Next chapter switches back to Riku, Tess, Aiden and the E-Branch team as they home in on the fugitive necromancer, only to find far more than they bargained for. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	6. Chapter 5: The Gorge of Terror

_Last time found our heroes arguing about what course of action to pursue next. Sarah and the Mane 6 wanted to seek out The Changelings and Raztonians, while Ranma and the E-Branch team wanted to continue their search for the fugitive necromancer. Ranma, Tess, Riku and Aiden went with the E-Branch team after Simpkins, while Sora, Kairi and Malcolm went with Sarah and the Ponies to Cloudsdale in response to a Shadow Beast attack sent by Sombra. The attack was repelled and our heroes learned that Sombra was involved, while the location of The Changelings and Raztonians was discovered. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

**Chapter 5: The Gorge of Terror**

"I don't want to sound insulting," said Tess, "but don't you miss being able to walk?"

"Every day," said Yuki as she, Ranma, Riku, Tess, Aiden, Cassie, Guy, The Twins and the rest of the E-Branch team, navigated their way through the Ever Free Forest, "every morning when I wake up till I go to sleep at night. Why else do you think I resurrected Dr. Hawkins's technology?"

After the argument that broke out at Sweet Apple Acres that left our heroes and allies divided and on separate missions, Ranma, Riku, Tess and Aiden went with the E-Branch group back to their base in the forest clearing, where Daniel sat in meditation in an effort to locate the fugitive necromancer. After nearly an hour, the esper's efforts bore fruit.

"He's to the west," said Daniel.

A map that Guy borrowed from Granny Smith allowed Daniel to better pinpoint Simpkins. "West of the forest, in that gorge."

"'The Ghastly Gorge,'" said Rita as she and the others looked at where Daniel pointed on the map, "how charming."

"They must be raking in the tourists at that spot," said Reina.

"It's a big canyon with plenty of places to hide," said Cassie.

"Well, if Simpkins thinks that no one is going to find him there, he's wrong," said Guy.

And so our heroes and allies were as they trekked west through the forest, following Daniel's esper-sensing and the borrowed map.

"But you can't wear the suit all the time," said Riku, "you told us that."

"I know," said Yuki, "fifteen minutes before it starts to hurt. But this is only my first attempt at a field-ready suit. You should have seen the prototype I built, now that was a mess. I could only wear it for a minute, but it was the first minute in years that I was standing on my own two feet."

"And it works by connecting your brain to the suit itself?" Aiden asked.

"Hence the source of the pain," said Yuki, "in laymen's terms, the mental strain of using the suit for so long becomes phantom pain that hurts me all over," she then picked up a nearby fallen branch and tapped her atrophied legs, "even where I can't really feel anything."

"I understand," said Tess, a distant look in her eyes as unpleasant memories were dredged up in her mind, "after I escaped from Phobos's dungeons, I was a wreck. My body, broken, scarred and ravaged, it wasn't until when the healers started working on me that I truly felt the aftereffects of Phobos's hospitality. Being tortured was one thing, but living with my scars, that was another."

"You never told me how much your scars hurt," said Riku.

"You never asked," said Tess, "but I lived with the near constant pain of a marred body, it only added fuel to the fires of hate in my heart. It made the job of stalking and slaughtering Phobos's minions that much easier and, I'm sorry to admit it now, much more enjoyable."

"I can't imagine living with such hate," said Rita as she walked alongside them, "hate buns you up on the inside."

"It kept me warm at nights for five years," said Tess, "and it would have burned me alive if Riku and the others hadn't come along." She then lovingly placed her arms around Riku and Aiden's shoulders, "fate must really like me to have given me such a great second chance."

"Second chances are good," said Reina, "but you must still be haunted by what you did."

"Way to rub salt into an open wound," said Rita in a disapproving manner.

"No, it's alright," said Tess, "I am haunted by my past. I sometimes have nightmares about my reign of terror. I can still see the faces of those I killed; trogg soldiers, lurderns, Phobos's toadies and enforcers. I relive my killings in my sleep. I relive the number of times I got careless and almost got caught, of the times my recklessness nearly got me killed, but most of all, I remember the hate that drove me."

She then placed a hand over her heart, "that hate is still in me. It's nowhere near as strong as it was before, not since I learned to love again. But I still feel the fire, the blazing hate that whispers to me to kill."

"Your razor," said Riku.

"Yes," said Tess as she pulled out her razor, "whenever we come up against a particular despicable enemy, I want to cut his or her throat, or scalp them first, or cut their heads off, hanging's good too. But no matter how I want to do it, I still want to kill and that feeling, that desire for murder, I'll be with me for the rest of my life."

Without warning, Reina grabbed Tess's razor, snapped the blade off from the handle and threw both pieces deep into the undergrowth.

"There," said Reina smugly as she saw Tess's look of astonished outrage, "now you can move on easier."

"That razor belonged to my father!" said Tess irately, "I mean, my adopted father. It's all I have left of him!"

"If it was that precious to you," said Rita, "we'll find and fix it," she then glared at her sister, "won't we?"

"No, it's okay," said Tess distantly, "now that it's gone, I…I really don't miss it that much."

"See? I did good," said Reina as she smirked smugly at her twin.

"Yeah, just don't do it again," said Rita. She then looked at Daniel, "how close are we to finding Simpkins? The sooner we find and beat the truth out of him, the sooner we can go home."

"What's the matter?" Ranma, whom hadn't said a word since the argument at Sweet Apple Acres, asked, "don't you like Equestria?"

"No, it's nice here," said Rita, "really nice, it's just…"

"Ever since we got here we had this feeling of something terribly wrong," said Reina, "both of us."

"Why didn't you say something before?" Cassie asked, "for the love of God! If there's one thing we at E-Branch teach espers is that if you sense something wrong, you sound off!"

"We didn't think it was anything worth fretting about," said Rita, "we probably felt those stupid Changelings and Raztonians or something."

"Well, I think you all made a mistake by walking away from Sora and the others," said Aiden, "if the shape shifters and aliens are messing with your instincts, then we should do something about them."

"You guys walked away from Sora and the others too," said Rita.

"Well, someone had to make sure you took care of yourselves," said Tess.

"E-Branch has been taking care of itself for decades," said Guy, "sure, we've had our ups and downs but we always pull through."

"Our world would have been destroyed many times over if we didn't," said Cassie.

"Well, as soon as we catch the fugitive necromancer, we're going back to Sora, Sarah and the others," said Ranma, "there's something wrong with her but I don't know what."

"What makes you think that?" Riku asked.

"I don't know," said Ranma, "she just seems…I don't know. I just feel that she's got a serious problem and need my help. I shouldn't have argued with her. In fact, why am I here? I should be with her chasing after shape shifters and alien bugs, not tramping through the woods after some messed up grave robber," he then looked at Guy and Cassie, "and you still won't tell us what he stole."

"How many times do we have to tell you!?" Guy asked irately, "that information is classified!"

"Let's just catch the son of a bitch," said Cassie, "then we'll worry about Changelings, Raztonians and whatever's bothering Sarah."

"Good plan," said Yuki, "so, how close are we to catching up with Simpkins?"

"We're getting close," said Daniel as he lead the party.

"How close?" Leah asked impatiently.

"Give him a chance," said another of the group espers, a girl about 19 years of age whom spoke with a Dutch accent. She had a medium skin tone with short blond hair and blue eyes. "He's not a GPS device."

"Where as you can only lift a few hundred kilograms with your mind," said Leah irately.

"You leave Ellie alone!" said one of the Special Ops, a pale-skinned man in his mid 20's with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, "what'd she ever do to you?"

"Nothing, Charley Ulrich," said Leah, "Ester van Gotta never did anything to me. These woods just give me the creeps, that's all."

"I don't like it here either, and call me Chuck!" said Charlie 'Chuck' Ulrich.

"Well, you're in luck," said Daniel as the forest began to thin out and the group soon stood on a ledge overlooking a vast gray canyon with a river at the bottom. Scattered through the canyon were trees, shrubs and assorted greenery.

"You sure Simpkins's down there?" Cassie asked Daniel.

"Positive," said Daniel, "he's down there, I can almost smell him. The stench of death on his hands, the close we get, the more noxious it gets."

"We'll be sure to give him a bath before we begin the interrogation," said Yuki as she drove her wheelchair closer to the edge of the gorge.

"How are you going to get down there?" Aiden asked, "you need one of us to carry you?"

"No," said a smiling Yuki, "like all Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, I'm prepared." She then pressed a button on her chair. The wheels then became four articulated legs with grasping claws at the ends.

"We told you she was a genius," said Reina as Yuki's chair began climbing down to the bottom of the gorge, while Guy, Leah and Chuck Ulrich set up ropes so everyone else could climb down.

"Wait, I can't go down there," said Ranma, "all that cold water and I'll be a girl in a heartbeat."

"What's the matter?" Reina asked in a teasing manner, "afraid of being a girl?"

"I just don't want to change right now," said Ranma, "I've had way too many experienced where I got splashed and turned into a girl against my will. This time I'm choosing to stay dry."

"Oh for crying out loud," said an irate Rita, "you decided to come with us on the mission, so man up and follow through on your decision."

"Or we could heat up the water around you enough so you don't change," said Reina.

"You can do that?" Ranma asked.

"It's an easy enough bit of magic," said Reina, "and I can make it that the hot spot followed you as you move. Just don't jump ahead of it or run too fast."

"Awesome," said Ranma.

Yet as our heroes and allies began their descent into the Ghastly Gorge, they were unaware that they had been followed. A pack consisting of several dozen Timberwolves had been tracking the humans since they left the clearing base, staying downwind so that their pungent stench wouldn't alert their prey.

Growling lowly, the wooden lupine creatures prepared to attack, when an insidious voice spoke up, "Patience, my friends," said Djarlo as he walked among the Timberwolves, "the time to strike is coming. Your victory will be that much sweeter the longer you wait."

* * *

Once at the floor of the gorge, Daniel pointed downriver, "That way," he said, "Simpkins is that way, I'm sure of it!"

"I'll tell you one thing," said Reina as she and the others waded through the shallow river, their pace slowed by the muddy riverbed, while Ranma walked with his warm patch of water, "as soon as this mission is over, I'm going shopping. These boots are pretty much ruined."

"They're just boots," said Tess, "A little mud and water isn't going to ruin them."

"I know," said Reina, "but I want to go shopping anyway."

"One thing I'll never get about girls," said Ranma, "is their need for stuff they don't really need."

"What do you mean?" Rita asked suspiciously.

"Well," said Ranma, "okay, here's one example; boys usually buy new shoes whenever they need them, like every few months or so. Girls pretty much buy new shoes if they have the money to waste them, sometimes even if they don't have the cash. And another thing about girls and money; outfits they'll wear once and never again."

"Girls happen to like to waste money," said Reina, "got a problem with that?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," said Ranma in a slightly annoyed tone as the group came upon a narrowing of the gorge where the river ran through a cave, "I pretty much lived as a bum for a while."

"You did say that the Tendo family had financial troubles," said Riku.

"Old man Tendo could have raked in the Yen with his Dojo but didn't," said Ranma, "'Tendo School for Anything Goes Martial Arts,' what a joke! In all my time at the Tendo house, he never had one paying student, not one! Bills piled up, stomachs went empty and don't even get me started on the debts that Nabiki ran up with her schemes."

"How is Nabiki?" Aiden asked as they entered the cave, straining against the force of an intense wind blowing through the tunnel, "she still a capitalistic blackmailer?"

"Last I heard," said Ranma, "she was studying and blackmailing her way into business school. She'll either get a full scholarship and graduate at the top of her class, or get expelled and end up joining the Yakuza or something."

"What about Akane?" Riku asked.

"She's actually doing better," said Ranma, "ever since The Tournament of Light, when we fixed her heart, she's stopped being an idiot and is taking responsibility for herself and her family. She's reopened the Tendo School and is teaching basic martial arts to anyone willing to learn. She still can't cook and isn't too fond of boys in general, but she's taking life one day at a time. As for Kasumi, the eldest Tendo daughter, she got married to Dr. Tofu, the local chiropractor and they're expecting their first kid soon."

"Remind me to send them fruit baskets," said Tess as they reached the end of the tunnel, where the gorge widened out further. But a few hundred yards ahead another obstical lay in their path.

"Those are some freaking big brambles," said Reina as the group reached an enormous patch of thorny vines and other spiny plants that covered the width of the gorge and went on ahead for several hundred more yards.

"You sure Simpkins is beyond that?" Cassie asked Daniel.

"Yes," said Daniel, "and if you ask me again, I'll be rather upset."

"Oh, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Rita asked sarcastically. She then charged up a large fireball and threw it at the brambles, burning a wide path through the thorny plants, yet the brambles began growing back almost immediately.

"Wow, talk about reforestation," said an impressed Reina.

"It's official," said Rita as Guy and the other Special Ops pulled out machetes and began hacking their way through the brambles, "I don't like it here."

"We'll be out of the gorge as soon as we grab Simpkins," said Cassie as the group hurried through the hacked path, careful to avoid being impaled on the spines as the brambles grew back.

"I mean this world in general," said Rita, "I mean, I do like the Ponies, they're really nice people."

"They're more than nice people," said Reina, "but there's something else here, something that give the both of us the willies."

"Something that scares you?" Aiden asked as he, Riku and Tess summoned their Keyblades to help hack through the brambles, "but you two took on Zerlina all by yourselves and pretty much won!"

"We were dragons at the time," said Rita, "and that Wamphyri vaccine you made really helped, but this is something else."

"It's like the worst thing in all of time and space," said Reina, "something so horrible that if we didn't know better, we thought was coming right for us."

"Maybe you're just stressed out," said Cassie, "the boss did lay it rather hard on you."

"He was right to be mad with us," said Rita, "it's our fault that Simpkins got away in the first place."

"He tricked us with a 16 tone weight," said Reina, "of all the stupid and clichéd traps, we fell for that one."

"Well, you made sure he wouldn't pull a fast one on you again," said Guy, "you did hit him with a razor storm spell."

"We sliced him up real nice," said Rita.

"I don't know how he's still alive," said Reina, "he should have bleed to death long ago."

"He's very weak," said Daniel as they finally got past the brambles, "and afraid. I can sense his fear. He's scared that he's going to die."

"He has a right to be afraid," said Cassie, "not just of hell, for that's where his twisted black soul is going. But his mind is doomed to be alone among The Great Majority. Necromancers are hated by the dearly departed even more than Wamphyri."

"If he dies, he dies," said Guy, "all we have to do is keep him alive long enough to find out who his contacts are and if he passed on his stolen information."

They hurried further down the river, eventually coming to an area where the gorge walls were lined with enormous holes.

"Now what?" Tess asked.

"I'll tell you now what," said a deep, hissing voice, "you get that piece of filth out of my cave!"

Our heroes and allies looked around and saw nothing, but then something emerged from a deep section of the river, something that, as the water was shed from its form, was revealed to be an enormous moray eel with red and purple skin, yellow eyes and a mouth packed with razor-sharp teeth.

"Well, this is a sticky situation we're in," said Cassie as she and the others looked at the creature as it reared its serpentine body above them.

"Ah…good day, good sir," said Yuki in a polite yet nervous tone, "you…you were the one who just spoke to us now, are you?"

"You better believe I just talked with you," said the eel-creature, "and it ain't polite to stare at people!"

"I'm sorry, it's just that we don't normally talk to giant eels," said Riku.

"We've seen a lot," said Aiden, "but this takes the cake."

"Quarry Eels aren't much talkers," said the eel-creature, "we like to stay in dark, dank places like these caves," he then looked at the cave-studded walls of the quarry, "but something barged into my cave, something that stinks like you little hairless monkeys, but also smells like something that's died!"

"Our fugitive necromancer!" said an eager Guy.

"Which cave is yours, good sir?" Yuki asked.

"That one," said the Quarry Eel as he indicated with his head at one cave about a third of the way up the left-hand wall of the gorge, "my neighbors won't bother you and I promise to let you out of the gorge alive, just get that thing out of my cave!"

"The abomination will be out of your home in a bit," said Cassie, "you have my word."

"We just have to figure out how to do it," said Guy. "Necromancers have no offensive powers, other than their repulsive dispositions and their stink, but Simpkins is a clever man. He evaded capture and survived his wounds this long, who knows what tricks he still has up his sleeves?"

"He's also like a wounded, cornered animal," said Daniel, "he'll be at his most dangerous when there's no way out."

"So, how do we flush him out of the cave?" Tess asked, "I could go invisible but I can't see in the dark."

"Damn it!" snapped Leah, "I knew we forgot to bring something!"

"We don't have any night vision goggles?" Rita asked, "that's just great! Well, we could try burning him out?"

"NO!" hissed the Quarry Eel, "no fire! It's bad enough my home is choking with the stink of that thing."

"Fire might actually get the smell out," said Reina.

"Wait, I've got an idea," said Aiden. He then looked up at the Quarry Eel, "if you can lift me and some mud up to the mouth of your cave, I can get the necromancer out in a heartbeat."

"Right now, I'm willing to do anything to get my home cleaned of the stink," said the Quarry Eel as he bent down, while Aiden transmuted some of the river mud into a large bucket and filled it with more mud. The Quarry Eel grasped the bucket handle with its jaws as Aiden got atop its head. The creature then lifted Aiden to the mouth of the cave.

"Good gods!" exclaimed Aiden after taking a whiff of the air from within the cave, "I feel your pain. I'd run out of my house as fast as I could if it stank like this!"

"Just get that thing out!" said the Quarry Eel through gritted teeth, "and why do you need the mud?"

"The mud's to use after I get Simpkins out," said Aiden, "but first, I need to fill your cave with another kind of stink." He then aimed his Keyblade into the cave and shot a bolt of Alchemic energy. A few seconds later there came the sound of a loud BANG from within the tunnel.

"What'd you do?" Rita asked.

"I transmuted the air in the cave into tear gas," said Aiden smugly.

A few seconds later a cloud of tear gas drifted out of the cave, followed by the sound of a man coughing violently. It wasn't long before a shape bolted out of the cave and fell into the river.

"And that's that," said Aiden. He then aimed his Keyblade at the bucket of mud, transmuting it into a giant, solar powered fan, "this will suck the stink out of the cave," he said as he placed the fan at the mouth of the cave and turned it on. The fan rapidly forced out the remains of the tear gas, "a couple hours or so and I'll be as clean as the day you first moved in."

"Oh, thank you so much," said the grateful Quarry Eel, "how can I repay you?"

"Just live up to your promise," said Aiden as the creature lowered him down, "my friends and I get to leave the gorge in peace."

"Of course," said the Quarry Eel. It then swam back and submerged into the deep part of the river.

"Nice guy," said Aiden as he walked back to the others. Guy and the other special ops had fished the cave intruder out of the river and were roughly scrubbing him down with detergent.

"He really reeks," said Tess, "I don't know if it's just from messing with the dead or from being on the run or both."

"Just goes to prove that necromancers are sick," said Riku, "in more ways than one."

"Hello, Simpkins," said Reina as she summoned a small bucket and threw a bucketful of water onto the cave intruder, "miss us?"

Cleaned of cave much and soap, Simpkins, his already balding head even more thinned and his glasses cracked, his clothes torn and ragged, glared fearfully at Reina and her sister, "Stay away from me!" he exclaimed in a high, almost squeaky voice, "just leave me alone! I didn't do nothing!"

"Are you kidding me?" Guy asked irately, "do you have any idea how much trouble you're in? Do you know how much grief you've caused E-Branch?"

"Not to mention the grief you've caused your victims, both living and departed," said Cassie.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Simpkins, "I'm just an ordinary stockbroker!"

"Ordinary my eye, you sick son of a bitch!" snapped Rita, "you kill people and rip their bodies apart to steal their secrets!"

"And why are you still alive?" Reina asked, "last time we saw you, you were bleeding half to death."

"I never saw any of you before in my life!" said Simpkins, "you have the wrong man!"

"The hell we do," said Guy as he pulled out the wanted poster and compared the picture to Simpkins, "you've lost more hair and some weight, but it's you, alright."

"Take a look of this," said Chuck as he held up a syringe and a large vial of green liquid, "found it in his pockets when we grabbed him."

"I never saw that in my life!" said Simpkins, "you lot put that on me!"

"Apparently the profilers forgot to mention that you're a pathological liar," said Yuki as Chuck handed the vial to her, "I could be wrong, but this stuff could be why he's still alive. This could be an experimental medicine that not only stimulates blood cell production in the body but also blood platelets."

"He juiced himself on experimental drugs to cheat death," said Cassie, "as if a necromancer couldn't sink any lower."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" exclaimed Simpkins, "you've got the wrong man!"

"Oh, give it a rest already!" said Reina, "you're coming back with us to E-Branch to answer for your crimes!"

"But first you're going to tell us who hired you to murder that scientist and steal his top secret information," said Rita.

"What scientist?" Simpkins asked, "what information?"

"Like you'd forget a man who's body you violated in this life and the next," said Cassie.

"Remember Dr. Allensworth?" Guy asked, "he's the man you murdered. He had a wife and children. Did you ever think about them? Did you ever think about the pain they went through when they heard he was dead? Or how about the grief they had when they heard that you mutilated his body so much that he had to be cremated."

"What about the information you stole?" Reina asked, "who hired you to do it? Who's your contacts?"

"Who hired you to bring them the core piece of The Machine?!" Rita exclaimed.

"Whoa, hold on a second!" said Ranma, "what's this about a machine?"

"Not a machine, The Machine!" said Rita.

"Shut it!" said Cassie irately

"Oh, sorry," said Rita in a subdued tone, "I almost dropped the ball there."

"Yes you did," said Cassie in a disapproving manner, "we'll finish the interrogation back at E-Branch." She then looked at Riku, Aiden, Tess and Ranma, "as soon as we get this bag of slime home, I'll convince the boss to let us come back to help you fight the Changelings and the Raztonians."

"We'll tell Sora to expect you guys," said Riku.

"And give that sack of pig vomit an extra kick in the gonads for me," said Tess.

"Will do," said Rita, while Reina nodded eagerly.

* * *

"Oh, I don't think so," said Djarlo as he stood atop the gorge wall, having followed our heroes and allies up to the caves of the Quarry Eels. With the Timberwolf pack waiting behind him, Djarlo raised his hand and unleashed a massive psychic attack.

* * *

Down in the gorge Riku, Tess, Aiden and Malcolm were startled and confused to see Cassie, Daniel, Eva and the other E-Branch espers clutch their heads in pain and stumble about.

"What's wrong with them?" Ranma asked.

"I don't know," said Yuki as she brought her powered chair over to Eva, "it's as if they all suddenly have migraines."

"All at the exact same time?" Guy asked as he held Cassie, steadying her as she moaned against the pain in her head.

"You think that eel-creature decided to pull a fast one?" Riku asked.

"No, this is something else," said Tess as she brought her hand up to her head, "my head hurts too!"

"But you're not an esper," said Riku.

"But she does have an ability," said Yuki, "not one classified under ESP, but similar enough to be affected by whatever's afflicting Cassie and the others."

"Then what's happening to the twins?" Aiden asked as he pointed to where, a few feet away, Reina and Rita were huddled down in the water, their hands clasped to their heads as they trembled in fear and pain.

"That voice!" exclaimed Rita, "that horrible laughter! It's eating into my soul!"

"Make it stop!" cried Reina, "make it stop! Someone make it stop!"

"By the gods, what's wrong with them?!" Aiden exclaimed as he rushed to the twins.

* * *

"They're afraid," said Djarlo to himself as he watched gleefully from above, "and right they should," he then looked at the enlarged pack of Timberwolves behind him, "now, my friends. Now you may hunt."

At that first one then another and another of the Timberwolves howled in anticipation of the kill to come. Soon the gorge echoed with their dreadful cries.

* * *

"Now what?" Tess asked as she looked up and saw the pack of Timberwolves leap down from the top of the gorge, landing on all fours in the river and stalking towards our heroes and allies.

"Now I know we've been set up!" said Guy as he and the other special ops pulled out their weapons.

"You did this!" snapped Leah as she grabbed Simpkins, "you lured us into a trap!"

"I didn't do anything!" said Simpkins, only to be punched in the face by Leah.

"Lying piece of crap!" said Leah as she pulled out a crossbow and loaded it with an explosive bolt.

"He may be innocent this one time," said Yuki as her chair attached her headset to her suit. It powered up and she stood, ready for battle.

"We'll worry about who set us up later," said Riku as he and Tess summoned their Keyblades, while Aiden stood ready with his Keyblade by the twins. By now the dozens of Timberwolves had them surrounded, growling and licking their wooden chops as they closed ranks.

"Good grief, they stink almost as bad as a necromancer!" said Guy after he and the others caught the noxious odor emanating from the Timberwolves.

"It's official," said Leah, "Equestria is off of my list for vacation destinations."

"Since when have you ever taken a vacation?" one of the special ops asked.

"I'm entitled to one," said Leah as she readied a pair of modified combat knives that had red hot blades. She then glared at the Timberwolves, focusing on a particularly nasty specimen that was slightly bigger than the other creatures, "you're the alpha of the pack, right? Well, BRING IT ON!"

The alpha Timberwolf growled loudly as it stalked towards Leah, readying to pounce on her, when the Quarry Eel emerged from the riverbed and grabbed the creature with its enormous maw, rising up into the air and violently shaking the creature until it fell apart, reduced back to scattered leaves, twigs and bark.

"Filth!" hissed the Quarry Eel, "I'm so sick of filth! And so are my neighbors!"

Aiden and the others saw that more Quarry Eels had emerged from their caves, the ones lowest to the river surface had snatched up and shook apart several Timberwolves and scattering the others.

"Let's recycle these piles of yard waste!" shouted Guy as he and the other special ops attacked the panicked Timberwolves, smashing, stabbing and bashing, while those armed with fire-based weapons set the creatures ablaze.

"Thanks for the assist!" said Ranma to the Quarry Eel as he shattered one Timberwolf with a well-placed kick.

"Your welcome," said the Quarry Eel, "and you are one strange individual."

"Huh?" Ranma then realized that he was now in cold water and had been Ranma-chan for several seconds, "oh jeez! Why me!?"

"Darned if I know," said Aiden as he stood by the still trembling tins, his Keyblade ready to bash any Timberwolf that got close.

After a few minutes the pack of Timberwolves had been completey wiped out, their woodsy remains floating downriver and was soon out of sight.

"Oh, God, my head," said Cassie as she and the other espers regained their senses, "what happened? I feel like I had one shot of Absinthe too many."

"Whatever it was," said Reina as she and Rita were helped back up by Aiden, the twins apparently no worse than for wear, "it knocked the mental stuffing out of us."

"What happened to you two?" Aiden asked, "you were saying stuff about a horrible voice and laughter."

"I…I can't…it was…" said Rita in an unsure tone.

"I can't explain it either," said Reina grimly, "but we know that we felt it before."

"From before," said Rita, "from our lost memories."

Before Aiden could inquire further, he and everyone else heard Yuki's irate shouting, "he's gone! Simpkins is gone!"

They looked all around and realized to their dismay that Simpkins was nowhere to be found.

"That slimy scumbag!" snapped Rita, "he did it to us again!"

"He tricked us and then escaped!" said Reina.

"No, it wasn't Simpkins," said Daniel, "no mere necromancer did this. This was evil on a whole other level."

"Explain yourself," said Guy.

"I can explain," said the Quarry Eel, "as we fought the Timberwolves, I saw another hairless monkey steal the bound one away. This one smelled foul too, but he was of a different kind of stench. Whereas the first one reeked of death, this new one stunk of insanity and pure evil."

"I think we had a close encounter with Simpkins's contact," said Cassie.

"He did this to us," said Eva, "he messed with our minds!"

"And how he's got Simpkins and the stolen information," said Yuki as she sat back in her chair, her suit powering down as the chair removed her headset.

"Did you see which way they went?" Aiden as the Quarry Eel.

"No," said the Quarry Eel, "they simply disappeared. The insane one popped in, grabbed the decaying one and they both popped out."

"Translocation," said Reina, "our new foe must have the power to teleport himself and another."

"This bastard keeps getting more dangerous," said Cassie, "he could be anywhere in the world by now with Simpkins, or even on another world."

"They're still here," said Daniel, "he may have put the whammy on me, but I managed to get a feel on him. He's more dangerous than anything we've faced before. This is a man with multiple ESP abilities and lacks emotional and moral restraints. He knows he has the power and relishes in abusing it. The more pain and misery he inflicts on innocent lives, the greater the pleasure he feels."

"A psychopath by any other name," said Yuki.

"But what would this lunatic want with a fugitive necromancer?" Riku asked.

"It is of no concern of mine," said the Quarry Eel, "I've repaid my debt to you and now you must go. I may not blame you for this intrusion of Timberwolves but my neighbors hold you responsible."

Aiden and the others looked around and saw that the many Quarry Eels whom had emerged from the caves were glaring irately down at the humans.

"I wish you success on your journey," said the Quarry Eel, "now leave our gorge and do not return!" with that the creature slithered up to the gorge wall and, after checking the air, slid back into is cave.

"That's gratitude for you," said Tess as they hurried to a cave-free area of the gorge wall. "We cleaned up his home and now he kicks us out of the neighborhood."

"They're just suspicious of outsiders," said Yuki as Guy and the other special ops threw grappling hooks and lines up to the top of the gorge, "we should leave before we antagonize them further." Her all-terrain wheelchair began climbing up the gorge wall, "unless you want to be torn to pieces by giant moray eels."

"I've can imagine better ways to die," said Tess.

* * *

It wasn't long before our heroes and allies were back atop the gorge with the Ever Free Forest a few yards in front of them.

"I can still sense the lunatic," said Daniel, "not as strong as before, but he's definitely still in Equestria," he then asked for the map and pointed to the Badlands, "there, he's somewhere there."

Just then Riku's phone rang, the caller ID saying it was from Sora, "Riku!" said Sora, "I know we agreed to work separately, but we really need you on this!"

"Another minute, Sora, and I would have called you for help," said Riku.

The two of them, after putting their phones on speaker, filled each other in on their respective group's recent activities.

"This can't be a coincidence," said Twilight Sparkle, "first the Changelings and Raztonians, then Sombra and now this crazy psychic."

"And they're all gathering in the Badlands," said Sarah, "with the fugitive Necromancer. It's all coming together."

"We shouldn't have split up," said Tess, "I'll bet you the enemy is laughing at us right now."

"We'll worry about it when we're all back together," said Kairi. Sidney will beam you to The Badlands and we'll work on how to end this mess before it gets worse."

"We'll see you in a bit," said Aiden.

"Looks like we'll all get what we want soon enough," said Riku as he put his phone away.

"And how," said Rita as she cracked her knuckles, "that worm Simpkins isn't getting away a third time."

"And if that crazy jerk whom messed with our minds tries to mess with us again," said Reina, "we'll make him regret it."

Yet as our heroes and allies prepared for what they hoped would be the final battle of the mission, they were completely unaware of something foul happening downstream in the gorge. The remains of the shattered Timberwolves, the twigs, leaves and bark, were glowing with dark magic and coming together, merging into something gargantuan and malicious to the core.

* * *

**…The Enemy Lair…**

"Are you sure the countermeasures will work?" Chrysalis asked, "these are my children who's lives you are risking."

"We won't know for sure if they'll work until the Mane 6 and their human allies try to use that scream again," said Jachs'ocallf, "be it with its originator, Sweetie Belle or with some weaponized recording."

"Our people are at risk too," said Obler'intor, "but be at ease, your majesty," he then gave a bow that was half respectful, half mocking, "none of your children shall be at risk, not at first that is."

"We've another in mind to be the final guinea pig," said Jachs'ocallf, "if he survives, he will be hailed as a hero to all Raztonians."

"And for all Changelings as well," said Chrysalis, "but what if this guinea pig fails the test?"

"If he fails he dies," said Obler'intor, "a regrettable death but a worthy sacrifice."

"Some sacrifices are more worthy than others," said Djarlo as he walked into the room.

"I hope you enjoyed your little jaunt," said an irate Jachs'ocallf, "while you were out twiddling your thumbs, we were attempting to destroy the Mane 6 and the Keyblade Wielders."

"How'd that go for you?" Djarlo asked, "no, don't tell me, I already know you lost because of a myopic Pegasus."

"It was that Stand user!" snapped Sombra, "the keeper of The Rainbow of Light! If only that fool of a centaur, Tirnac, had finished her off when he had the chance, or better yet, had he killed the waif's mother decades ago!"

"Alas, so many failures," said Djarlo, "but while you were failing, I succeeded," he then stepped out of the room and returned a few seconds later with Simpkins, the fugitive necromancer looking more frantic than before.

"Ah, the elusive Cyrus Simpkins," said a smiling Obler'intor, "at long last. How was your journey?"

It was as if a switch flipped as Simpkins adopted a calmer, more serious and angry persona, "it's about time you lot found me," he said, "do you know what I've had to go through to get what you wanted? The security around Allensworth nearly got me killed three times over. Then I nearly got sliced to ribbons by those freaks, those incredibly hot but insufferable twins. If I hadn't nabbed some of that drug and used it, I would have bled to death."

"And you're still among the living," said Chrysalis.

"And grateful to be here," said Jachs'ocallf, "for the one thing a necromancer fears above all is to die."

"Your plans nearly got me killed even after I got to this mixed up world," said Simpkins, "Manticores, Chimeras, wild bears and other nasties. I was nearly swallowed whole by a giant eel. And then those E-Branch bastards caught up with me, and they brought those twins with them!"

"What is it about those twins?" Chrysalis asked, "they're reasonably attractive, for humans, and they're powers and abilities are well above average. Yet they are still humans."

"They're far from human," said Djarlo, "remember, we've got history, me and the twins."

"But they don't remember you," said Obler'intor.

"They remember deep down in their unconscious minds," said Djarlo, "our last encounter planted the seeds of terror. A slight touch of my power briefly germinated those seeds and left them quivering wrecks of themselves. The next time we meet, I'll be sure to bring those seeds to full bloom. And what fear they shall feel, it shall be ever so sweet."

"Uh, hello?" Simpkins asked impatiently, "I'm still here, you know."

"As if we could forget a human worm spawn like you," said Obler'intor.

"You do have the information we requested?" Jachs'ocallf asked impatiently.

"Oh, I've got it alright," said Simpkins as he smiled cruelly, "I had to tear Allensworth apart almost down to his cells, but I got it," he tapped his forehead, "the one part of The Machine that you need, and it's all up here."

"Then give it to us!" snapped Chrysalis, "too many of my children have died in order to get you here!"

"Not to mention one dead Raztonian," said Obler'intor.

"If I may interject," said Djarlo, "it wasn't any of you who brought Simpkins here, it was me, all me."

"And yet who was it who brought you into this dark conclave of ours?" Jachs'ocallf asked, "we did!"

"And we assembled The Machine, such as it is right now," said Obler'intor.

"The final piece is the essential component," said Chrysalis, "without which, The Machine is just so many useless pieces of metal and plastic."

"It matters not who brought the hairless ape here!" said Sombra, "the information in his brain is all important."

"Agreed," said Obler'intor, "now, Cyrus, about that information."

"My commission first," said Simpkins.

"Yes, your payment," said Jachs'ocallf in a slightly annoyed and disgusted tone. One of the lesser Raztonians brought over a PDA that Jachs'ocallf used, "Five million British Pound Sterling to be transferred to a secure account on a parallel Earth, which will be accessible upon completion of The Machine."

"I want ten million!" said Simpkins, "and proper protection from those E-Branch bastards!"

"The price stands at five million!" said Obler'intor, "and E-Branch will have other things to worry about once The Machine is complete."

"I still want protection," said Simpkins, "especially from those twins. They're taking this mission very personal. They're not going to stop until they catch and bring me back to E-Branch, or kill me. Personally, I think being taken alive by them is worse."

"There won't be an E-Branch once we're done with it," said Chrysalis, "now give us the information before we take it from you."

"You try anything and I'll forget it all," said Simpkins as he smiled slyly, "a man in my lifestyle needs to take precautions. Stealing information from the dead is more dangerous than you might think. Not only am I on the run from the authorities, but also from rival organizations whom paid for my services. I've taken commissions from one group and sold my stolen secrets to another group whom offered a higher price. There are a lot of people whom want me dead, not to mention other necromancers out to steal what I stole.

"But I've made sure that if I ever get caught and they try to take from me what I've acquired, they'll just waste their time. A few hypnotic suggestions here and there and all I have to do is say a code word that only I know. Be I alive or dead, I just have to think that word three times and everything I've stolen will be wiped from my mind. Oh sure, you can kill me here and now, but you won't get anything if you try to force it from me."

"At least I'll have the satisfaction of rendering you into bloody mulch, you worm!" spat Jachs'ocallf.

"Oh, just give the ape what he wants," said Sombra, "it doesn't matter, we'll soon have what we want."

"Too true," said Djarlo, "so why waste time and energy on unnecessary violence? Expressive carnage is one thing, but why soil our hands and hooves needlessly?"

"Very well," said Obler'intor. He then glared at Simpkins, "you'll get your money, ten million, as well as extra protection."

"And the twins?" Simpkins asked, "even if you smash E-Branch, those two will still come after me."

"I'll deal with the twins when the time comes," said Djarlo, "just now I gave them a taste of what I can do, a mere appetizer. Our next encounter will be the main course and I promise you all, my comrades, they will not live to see what I can cook up for desert."

**The End Of Chapter 5.**

_Next chapter finds our heroes and allies reunited to face the insidious cabal threatening Equestria, yet the worst is yet to come. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


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